The History of Shadow
by SilverZeo
Summary: Learn the past of Project Shadow. Learn how he was created and captured. Learn to find out who his parents are, it will shock you. Witness his great strugle against the powerful Gizoid, his first Chaos Control. Learn what is an Ultimate Life Form.
1. Activate

The History of Shadow.  
  
By SliverZeo  
  
Prologue.  
  
Where am I? How do I know these words? Why is it so dark? What am I... sensing? It's some sort of crowd, of people, of three or four. I feel strong when I'm around them. Wait. They're fading; it is getting colder and darker. Wait, my senses are sharpening. It's not as dark as before. I can now hear... beeps. I was getting smarter and stronger. Someone one is coming. I can sense it... No! I can sense her coming closer to me. I could hear her mystic voice, "This is what Grandpa was working on? It's not as creepy as that lizard, but these doesn't look nice too. That Gizoid is the nicest look Ultimate Life Thingy, but Grandpa's Project Shadows are menacing, not one bit of hero material. I wonder if these things have souls?"  
  
Project Shadow? Is that who I am? Then I began to hear beeps in a rhythm. That girl, she is playing the computers like a piano. It's so soothing. But what did she mean by Project? Am I a robot? No, I can hear my heart beat. But what is a soul? Is it important? Wait I'm sensing powerful forms of energy. One is full of power and rage, it's almost scary. Another as the same, but dormant, but it's growing. I feel two beings as my own, could they be my parents of my creations? And the seven rest, each giving off a warm but powerful glow. Four beings began to approach to my position, they feel important to me. I could here one of them, an old man, "... and this project could connect the our to worlds." Than a younger but stern began to speak voice, "Yes, but you must not tell of our existence to you military, I do not wish to have them on my Island, crowding around the Master Emerald." The old voice replied, "No fear Locke, your scared lands shall not be disturb again. And you will not be bothered too Jules and Charles."  
  
A teenage boy, around my DNA Age approached me, "Whoa dude, he looks like my son. I'm 16 and I have a genetically grown soon who is genetically my age too. Freaky."  
  
An older voice, but younger than the old man began to talk, "Jules, your speed was necessary to help complete Shadow as well as Locke's sensing abilities."  
  
Jules began to speak again, "Yea, but I hope he inherit some of my personality than a certain grumpy red bug-eating echidna that lives in on a floating rock with only one girl."  
  
Locke's stern voice broke in rage, "HEY! WHAT TO MAKE SOMETHING ABOUT IT? BLUE BUSHPIG?"  
  
Jules return the anger, "First off, YES! And It's a HEDGEHOG!"  
  
The old man broke up the fight, "Would you two stop it, One of the abilities of the Ultimate Life Form is that it can absorb all forms of energy, that includes emotions. So I don't want it to be a maniac. Well, it's time for Shadow to awake."  
  
The fluid around me began to drain and I open my eyes to a Old man with a odd gray mustache, two blue hedgehogs, and one red echidna, but no sign of that female that I sense before. The old man step forward. "Hello, Project Shadow. I am your creator, Professor Gerald Robotnik. But only one third of your perfect complex DNA came from me, the other two came from your other two fathers. Your battle style and sensing abilities came form Locke the Echidna, the last of the echidna males on Angle Island. And your hedgehog form and your awesome speed came from Jules the Hedgehog, the fastest blue hedgehog on earth. And I do say I think Charles is your Uncle Chuck. The DNA I gave you was from your Prototype, your big brother if you would say. But I got the idea of the ultimate from an old robot like artifact I found in this very space station... Are you paying attention, Shadow?" No, I wasn't. I was looking for the female, I answered the Professor, "No, I wasn't. I was looking for the female." "Female?" ask my human creator. "She referred to her Grandfather's Project Shadows as 'Menaces and not hero material.'" Gerald Sighed, "Maria. I worried for that girl. She is the only child on this space station, ever since..." But the Professor was cut off when sirens and red lights broke out. Danger. That dormant being has awoken and the seven warm power energies I sense were gone.  
  
To be continued...  
  
Do you know what this means? Shadow, Knuckles, and Sonic are related. But more importantly, SONIC AND KNUCKLES ARE RELATED. 


	2. Round One

Gizoid  
  
Emerl's.  
  
............ BEEP BEEP BEEP! Super Power Source Detected! Energy Adsorption Radius initiated. Power Cells reach to Efficient Levels. Emerald Location confirmed. Initiate tracking and absorption tactics. Mission Objectives: Objective One: Input battle Tactics of Planet Warriors. Objective Two: Adsorb High Levels of Planet's Powers to achieved full completion. Objective Three: Subjugate/Obliterate Planet.  
  
Shadow  
  
My mind began to grow, thanks for the professor's Virtual Cerebral Download, which gave me my ability of to perform basic body and mind functions. I even learned my "parents'" skills and abilities that took them years to learn, well I learned them in mere nanoseconds. A scientist communicated with the professor via video console, "Sir, the Gizoid is missing and the Seven Chaos Emeralds are two!"  
  
The professor just said, "Oy,"  
  
While my father, Locke, didn't take so well, "THOSE EMERALDS HAVE BEEN ON MY ISALND FOR GENTERATIONS AND ON THEIR FIRST TIME OF MY ISLAND, THEY GET ASBORD BY AN ANCIENT WAR WEAPON!"  
  
Jules walk towards the volcanic red echidna, "Cool it, Dude."  
  
Then my Uncle step in, "Locke, take deep breaths!"  
  
Locke wasn't cooling off, "The whole world is in danger and YOU ARE TELLING ME TO RELAX?!?!"  
  
I step in, "I shall now begin my mission, Professor."  
  
The professor gave me a worried look; "If you find Maria, keep her out of harm's way. She is my whole world."  
  
I look at my creator, "Your granddaughter is not a planet, and if she was she could hardly support life for you."  
  
My fathers and uncle just sighed as I dashed out. I wondered why the professor was so concern for Maria, she has no purpose for the efficiency of ARK, she just a civilian girl. My speed is incredible, now I know why Jules is so laid back. Jules got speed while Charles got the brains; I learn that from my Cerebral Download as well as ARK Crew list. I sensed my 'big brother' when I pass his contentment area. Then the Gizoid jump out in the hallway and extend his arm with a fist at the end. I ram right into the fist at full speed but I shrugged, a very hard, long, painful shrug, it off. The Gizoid just smirk down to me, "Pitiful Faker." I reply back to the ancient weapon, "I am G.U.N. Commodore Project Shadow, a Stealth Hyper Acceleration Defensive Overland Warrior."  
  
The Gizoid chuckled, "I thought you Projects were codenamed 'Shadow' because you are an infer copy of me."  
  
The emeralds made this robot smarter, "I have been authorized by G.U.N. Military, Guard Unit National, to defend earth with my full loyalty."  
  
The Gizoid smeared, "Why defend a planet that will soon destroy itself."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"The beings of earth are slowly destroying earth. By wiping out their own kind and eroding the land and resources."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because they're a plague, they only look out for themselves. They might help a few, but not enough to help their whole planet! I am performing a mercy killing really. And since you have no" Then Gizoid extended his arm and blast me with full force. I went flying down the hall. I didn't mind the pain, but I was confused of my existence. I was to defend the earth, but earth itself is being destroy by the people I'm protecting. Was the point of this? The blast soon faded and I skidded across the floor and pass out. I was to be soon terminated 


	3. The Meaning of Purpose and The Purpose o...

The Purpose Of Meaning And The Meaning Of Purpose.  
Shadow's POV  
  
......... I'm... still... alive? I awoke to be in a standard living quarter. I observe my surroundings. I spotted a statue of a winged human wielding a sword and shield, than eyes than veered off to a wide window. I got up to get a better view of the window. That's when I spotted it. Earth. The planet was blue with green crust on it, covered by large groups of white clouds. Seeing it was more incredible than any picture. I was over came with a great filling, I felt weak but strong at the same time. The back of my throat was dry in a good way.  
  
"That's some a view, isn't it?" said a familiar voice. I turn to see a young blonde girl, her eyes were as blue as the ocean of earth. She was wearing a blue Ark Civilian uniform. It was that girl that played the computer like a piano; I could sense her pure chi.  
  
"It's wonderful," I replied, "Did you transport me to this area?"  
  
The girl gave me a look, "... Are you a robot or something?"  
  
I responded, "No. I'm 100% organic, not robotic. Please response to my inquiry"  
  
The girl just continue to give that look, "You act and sound like a robot."  
  
I responded, "No. I'm 100% organic, not robotic. Please response to my inquiry."  
  
The girl sighed, "Yes! I brought you to my room!"  
  
"Civilians are not authorized to be at a danger zone on the space colony."  
  
"Sigh, If I didn't went were I wasn't suppose to be than you would die."  
  
"... that seems logical."  
  
"Oy," The girl put a wet rag on my wounds. When the cloth touch my injures, it stinged at high levels of immense pain, "Aren't you going to say 'oww', Shadow?"  
  
"How did you know my code name?"  
  
"Oy, I'm your creator's granddaughter, Maria."  
  
Well, one of my objectives is now completed: Make sure Maria Robotnik is safe. But I can't help to look at the winged-human. UI don't recall any animal from my data files.  
  
Maria noticed my curiosity, "You like that statute of the Ark Angel?"  
  
I turn to her, "What is the Ark Angel's duty on board here?"  
  
"Well... he doesn't really work here."  
  
"His a stowaway?"  
  
"Well, he has the authority to help anyone in the world, that includes Ark."  
  
"What is his specialty with helping people?"  
  
"His specialty is making people happy."  
  
"How is that helping?"  
  
"Well, he gives people a ray of hope to get through their lives, to keep them on living and reaching to their dreams."  
  
"Error. Dreams are caused in the brain when subject is asleep."  
  
"Not Dreams DREAMS! Dreams like your wishes of what you want to be happy. Like my dream is to go down to earth."  
  
"Why is that your wish?"  
  
"When I was very little, my parents died early. My only relatives were my uncle and grandpa. My uncle was too busy to have children, so I had no choice but to follow my Grandfather to the space colony. I never seen the beach or feel the nipping winds of the mountain range, I'm waiting till I'm an officially an adult till I can go down there."  
  
"Earth sounds as great as it's view from here. Oh! I almost forgot my other objectives. I must beat the Gizoid."  
  
Maria just look at me, "Shadow, why are you fighting."  
  
"Because I was told to."  
  
"(Sigh) Shadow! You can't win like that. Simple soldiers in terrorizing battles don't win just because they were told to."  
  
"That does not make any sense."  
  
"Shadow, you need to put more effort to win. Do or Die! Give over a hundred 121%!"  
  
"No one can give beyond 100%. Fore in theory, that is the limit of full capability of systems and beings."  
  
"Shadow, that was an expression."  
  
"It's an illogical expression."  
  
Maria gave me big sigh, "Shadow, You can never win if you don't use your heart in battle, Grandfather forgot to teach you thought." Than I had an incredible empathy. Soldiers go to fight for their beliefs, their country, and their loved ones. They put great efforts just to win after a long and tiring duel of two equal forces. They would make the ultimate scarf ice just to give people a chance to be happy. I walk over to Maria and ask her the question that will keep me going in all of my fights, "Maria. What I'm fighting for?"  
  
Maria gave me a warm smile, "You're fighting for the protection of all the innocent lives of earth. Make them see what really matter in their live. Give them a chance to be happy."  
  
"Works with me." Than I mad dash out there. The Gizoid is going to face Project Shadow, no... he is going to face Shadow the Hedgehog, the ultimate life form. Little did I know that the outcome of this battle would soon turn my world upside down... 


	4. Gathering Up

Here is the new chapter, a bit short.  
  
Grouping up.  
Shadow's POV  
  
My creator's voice boomed over the P.A. System on the space colony, "Shadow, The Gizoid is at the construction sight of the new weapon, The Eclipse Cannon. If it absorb its power, he could destroy the world."  
  
I thought out loud, "That thing has no respect for other life forms, he just doing this because he knows he can."  
  
Then, my two fathers, Locke and Jules, came dashing in. Locke spoke, "The professor sent us to assist you."  
  
Jules was being a wise mouth, "Yea, after you got whooped less than 50 seconds by that bot."  
  
I just smirk at him, "I didn't see you do better, old man."  
  
Jules was speechless, "By your standards maybe, but that also makes you a new born baby."  
  
Locke was too shocked, "I think he is getting your ignorance."  
  
Soon the three of us dashed within the metal hallway, my parents were given instructions to get to the cannon. Locke gave my the important details, "We could use the rails for the construction trains that surrounds the station as a shortcut. With our great sense of balance, it shall pose no challenge."  
  
I just said, "Let's go," sternly.  
  
Then the three of us then sped off to the outskirts of the moon base.  
  
Jules was concern, "Do you think we can handle the Gizoid?"  
  
I answered, remember what Maria said to me, "We have a reason to fight: We use our powers to protect our love ones, while that robot has just follows his programs."  
  
"Glad to know ya remember my name, Shady," said a similar young voice. I turn around to see Maria in high-tech white space armor, "I thought you guys needed help against the Ultimate Weapon.  
  
Locke just huffed, "We don't need the assistance of a girl,"  
  
Maria then began to act smug, "Well then, I guess you don't want your Chaos Emeralds back A.S.A.P."  
  
My confuse echidna father then replied, "I am not certain 'A.S.A.P.' is a good thing."  
  
Maria just sighed then put on smirk, "Yea, I'm a wiz at 'A.S.A.P', the more reason for me to help ya."  
  
I was getting impatience, "I accept your help, Maria."  
  
Locke asked me if this was the same Maria of Prof. Gerald and I told him yes. It didn't made must of a difference, if the Gizoid reach it's perfect level, the help is needed. Maria rode piggyback on Jules. And in mere minutes, we reach the construction zone on ARK.  
  
Locke senses were at high alert, "Hmm, I sense the emeralds nearby,"  
  
Then I heard the Gizoid, underneath me, "You just don't learn, do you?"  
  
The same sort of light began to form beneath my feet. I just stood there, curious when Maria tackled me just about when a power full laser blast out where I was just standing.  
  
Maria scold at me, "When something like that happens, you're suppose to get out of the way!"  
  
The Gizoid then pop out of the hole, acting stuck up, "You can't stand up to my awaken powers."  
  
Jules was by cocky, "In a hen's hinny,"  
  
Gizoid then glance at Jules, "What was that?"  
  
Jules then made a face, "I broke tougher stuff then you, Oldie Robot." Then he began to charge at full speed at the robot and then did a spin dash attack. Locke join in fight by giving a uppercut on the Gizoid back. And I leapt into the air a drop kick on robot. Then the Gizoid then attack Locke, who easily parried it.  
  
Jules was getting overconfident, 'This robot only good to eat dirt. Some tough machine."  
  
The Gizoid then chuckled, "Hey, I hope that was your best, because I just reached the same level as you. I have the ability to copy all of your abilities. I just master all of your attacks and defense moves."  
  
"(We just wasted all of strongest moves on this guy, and without other techniques we're doom. I just need a Chaos Emerald to reach my full potential. But that robot absorb everyone one of them.)" I thought. Then Maria snuck up behind the Gizoid, pulling out a tease from her suit's compartment and gave the Gizoid a shocking of its life. 


	5. The Final Battle and the New Beginning

The Final Battle and a New Beginning.

The Gizoid vibrated rabidly when Maria shocked him with the teaser. Then something began to emerge and fallout of the robot's back, the yellow Chaos Emerald.

Maria quickly grab the emerald and tossed it at Shadow, "Shadow! Catch!"

Shadow grab the mystical jewel and activated his full force, but the ancient weapon of war wasn't intimidated, "So you have an Emerald. The score is 6 to1 in my favor, you cannot win.

Shadow also didn't budge, "But I'm a living being, I have a purpose to fight while you fight to fill up your own programming. You're the one who cannot win."

The Gizoid then charge at Shadow, but the ultimate life form shouted, "CHAOS CONTROL!" then froze time. He quickly pummeled the robot. When time started again. The robot was not out, began to spin and launch a shockwave of air at Shadow, but was soon canceled out with a shock wave of air from Locke's powerful punch while Jules quickly zig and zag and then pummeled the Gizoid at sonic speed, but the robot shrugged it off.

Maria quietly snuck up behind the Gizoid, but he quickly grabbed the girl and quickly tossed her over his shoulder. After Maria hit the ground, the Gizoid punch her in the gut with a Locke's stolen ability. Maria gasped and then fainted. When Shadow witnessed this cruelty, his mind snapped. Shadow's teeth grinded against each other and his eyes where lost in a deep yellow glow, as well as his chaos Emerald. Soon the yellow stone turn into ball of light and entered Shadow's body, which soon was engulfing in a yellow fiery.

Jules was in deep impress, "Whoa! My son is less then a day old, and he already acting like a comic book hero."

Locke had a scared expression, "When a Chaos Emerald does that, it usually means the wielder is in deep rage."

Shadow final spoke after absorbing a seventh of the ultimate power, "Gizoid, prepare to be terminated, for your actions to an innocent bystander such as Maria is unforgivable."

Shadow then bust forward like a bolt of lighting the deliver a harsh blow in gut. But the Gizoid was unaffected, the robot deliver many harsh blows upon Shadow's head then jump back and began to charge his fist blasters while Shadow look like he was under intense harsh stress.

The Gizoid smirk as he was about to lunch his deadliest assault, "Time for your deletion! Eclipse...."

Shadow then interrupted the war machine by given off an energy radius while shouting "CHAOS... CONTROL!!!!!!!!!!!!" then everyone was engulfed in the energy radius, while the Gizoid was being pushed back and power of six remaining Chaos Emeralds then beamed out of him and then vanished in Shadow's Chaos aura....

4 hours later...

A salvage team examined the battle field. The Gizoid was just a hair away from being unable to repairable. But the strangest thing was that Maria, Shadow, Jules, and Locke have disappeared to heavens knows where, only the Emeralds remained. Professor Gerald was determined to find his granddaughter and the hope for humanity, even if he becomes insane by doing it.

In another timeline...

Maria was still unconscious after going mono y mono with the now scraped war machine. Her hearing was coming to hear as she woke. "Chirp, Chirp, Chirp."

Her ear slightly twitched when the rhythm of the birds' song entered it. Maria slowly opened her eyes to see a clear blue sky covered by long tree branches.

"Is this... earth?" She took deep breathes to see if it wasn't a hologram. The air around her wasn't cold and sterile to her throat as ARK's.

Maria then sat up looking at the blue sky she had only seen once in her life time.

"So your finally awake." Said a shady voice behind the tree. Maria turned to see it was Shadow. The ebony rodent looked up at the sky and smiled. "It is very beautiful here. Just like you said."

"Shadow..." said Maira.

Shadow look down at the girl, "I brought as here, using Chaos Control, when I bend space and time to cause a rift in reality. I send us here."

Maria gave Shadow a warm smile then look up at the sky again, "Shadow, even though you look demonic, you're an angel because you're pure and you grant my heart's wish."

The two then look at the sky. Then an odd idea enter Maria's mind, "Shadow, you got us here using that Chaos Gem thing, right."

"Yes," replied the ultimate life form.

"Do you still have it?"

"No"

"... then how do we get back?" Shadow just stood there, putting on his bad boy face.

Maria continued, "And where are your fathers, Jules and Locke?"

Shadow finally spoke out, "Both, my fathers and emeralds, are here,"

"Emeralds? You mean there's more here."

"Yes, all seven. I made the Gizoid to purge out the rest of them when I warp us here. We just need find them."

Maria smiled widely. "Alright, an adventure. Let's go. To power, family, and so forth!" Maria then got up and began to walk to the east.

"I feel the emeralds and my fathers southern from here." Informed Shadow.

Maria then scold at him, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Meanwhile...

"OOOOO!!!! AAAAAA!!!!" went something really loud near Jules. The blue hedgehog awoke on white steps of a stone hut , surround by pools of water with a dozen little blue winged babies with water drop shape heads singing at the alter.


	6. Prelude to an Adventure

Prelude to an Adventure.

Maria, who is still in her space suit, followed closely behind Shadow but the isolated blonde was enjoying the scenery of earth. "Earth is surprisingly different then on ARK. Is everything on this planet just like this place?" ask the Streaked Steaker

"Not really, in the city I used to live in hardly had green plains like these, it was a lot like the space station but with an unlimited amount of air." answered the cherubic child. After taking a step, Maria took a nasty fall, "Oww, these jet boosters may weigh light in space, but now they're a ton."

Maria then pressed a button on the rocket like skates that made them 'clamp' off her ankle, the boosters also were big enough for Maria to wear her slippers with them. The ebony wonder stare at the shoe marvel. Shadow clamped the rocket skates on his feet and began to walk with ease. Maria gawk at what the Ultimate Life Form did and asked him, "How'd you do that?"

Shadow up to her and replied, "I have above normal strength,"

"Ok, but won't they slow you down?"

"I could use these to strengthen up my normal speed without them."

"They do look good on you. Now let stop talking about shoes and start on our hike again"

The two continued with their hike for the Chaos Emeralds, following on Shadow's senses and upstream. They hike for hours, they took breaks now and then, refreshing their swore feet in the river, until they cam across steep and wide flat-topped plateau, with smoke clearly visible where the two were standing.

Maria took her best hunched, "When's there smoke, there's fire, and when there is fire…

Shadow finished his lighter counterpart's statement, "There's a civilization. I'm also picking up a Chaos Emerald atop of there."

"Now the only problem's is to up ther-" Maria stop as Shadow swept her off feet and hold her in his arms and then kick off the ground and onto the base of the mountain only to jump off to a higher level, like a rock skipping in a pond. Soon Shadow and Maria reach the top and were confronted by massive stone walls; the tall towers within the gates could be seen. "Echidnas! What are they doing here? Oh, I almost forgot, Shadow," Maria mumble as the hedgehog tilted his head down to Maria, "PUT ME DOWN RIGHT THIS INSTANT! It's a very uncomfortable position to be in." The Ultimate Life Form drop Maria right on her Fanny, "That's not what I meant and you know that."

"Shhhh!" went Shadow as he spied a bulky and shaggy echidna with a spear approaching to the two's position.

The menacing weapon of war and the innocent girl duck down and flatten themselves to the ground, they even stop breathing for a moment as an extra precaution. Soon the mega-sized marsupial's feet thudded away. Maria perk her head up enough to examine the traveling echidna's weapon and notified Shadow, "From what that spear went through, I think they are not much as pacifists."

"Stand Close," ordered the black and red ULF as he got up an approach the gatemen and ordered them in a dark stern voice, "Let me pass,"

One of the guards pointed his spear up to Shadow's face, who only took one short glance at and back the guards, and bellowed in a loud, tough, and prideful tone, "The gates of Echidnapolios are not open to the like to you,"

Shadow stood his ground and glared at the two guards, "And what I do I have to be to enter?"

Maria was in earshot range of the ecstatic converse and thought to herself, "These guys act like they're on a Japanese Anime Soap Opera."

The other guard chuckled, "Have you not heard of the Knuckles Tribe's conquest? We had just overrun the Stryker Clan of dingoes, the very rivals to echidnas. To enter our domain you must a strong warrior,"

Shadow narrowed his large red eyes at the two, "And how do I prove myself worthy of entering our domain of great recent great 'triumph'?"

The other guard lowered his spear to Shadow, "Do not speak with a cocky tone of the Knuckles Tribe, you cur! To enter you must beat us in combat!"

Shadow quickly leapt into the air and turned his right hand into a fist and the other to a karate blade. And with a swift punch and chop, the two guards fall to the ground. Maria awed at Shadow's speed, grace, and accuracy, she walk out of hiding and approach her ally in a strange new world, "You were amazing!"

The black hedgehog's glaring eyes soften to Maria, "We're in the past,"

Maria jaw dropt as if her tongue weighed like a cow, "How can that be?"

"We were brought here through Chaos Control, a tear in space **and time.**"

"How can you be sure?"

"From Prof. Gerald's data download, with Echidna History, this where the echidna population took a incredible drop for an unknown reason. The only clue is a stone portrait of a giant lizard of water destroying a city that the professor found in the Mystic ruins." Shadow then noticed Maria smirking and blushing, "What's with you?"

"Sorry, you just sound cute when you talk all darkness."

Shadow blinked twice after hearing that word, "Cute?"

"Shouldn't we enter the den of crazy war loving spiky rodents?"

"Marsupials, Maria." Said Shadow dully.

Maria gave Shadow a very nasty look, "Shadow, we're in the past to a parallel world. I think we have more important things to do than correcting each other."

"I am the one doing the correct-" Shadow stop in mid sentence when he notice Maria's calm blue ocean eyes glared at him like a raging tidal wave crashing on a small newborn goldfish.

"Shall we go?"

"Aren't you afraid?"

"I have been coop up in that oversized soup can for more then half my life, I have a LOT of energy to burn, and this trip is my ticket."

"Maria," Shadow started at the girl with great awe, "You give such surprise. I would never expect you to do something like this."

"Shadow, I told you already, you have to Live and Learn. You have to do things that scare you, you have to make shift every mistake you make, do your bests at things your bad at, and so forth." Maria felt proud when Shadow smiled, then the ebony rodent step up to door and pushed against between the wooden frames, "Shadow, pull."

"Oops,"

"Live and Learn, Shadow, nothing to be a shame about."


	7. The Dawn to Darkness

The Dawn to Darkness.

(Based on the stories of Sonic Adventure)

Chuck was transported to a mountain range, where he spotted the fountain where Jules was at. Soon the two blue hedgehogs were together again, "Yo, Chuck what's rolling?" greeted Jules to his brother behind the aquatic stone structure.

Jules scold his younger brother as his greeting, "We've just been transported into an unknown world, can't you say anything with a bit more heartfelt and less puckish?"

A smile came on Jules's face, "Of course not. You better loosing up, Chukie, you act like a protocol droid or something."

The two hedgehog brothers stop talking when a soft tone of a young lass said, "Please, you must leave this place. I spoke with my, father. He will come soon" The hedgehogs walk a radius of the fountain to see who the girl was. They found out that it was a young, paled-orange; echidna girl and it look like see was speaking to the big emerald at the center of the fountain. The Emerald gave a probable reply by making bubble noises in the fountain. The girl continued to plead to the giant gem, "You say you can't leave this land?" The bubbles replied to her question. "I understand, I will speak to my father again. There must be a way," the echidna then turn to the little animals that Jules saw earlier, "Don't fear little ones, I'll be sure your safe." The young echidna then sped off as fast as her sandals would allow her.

"Who was that?" ponder Chuck

"To you, she's all mine," replied Jules so smugly, Chuck was disgested by his younger brother's respect for women.

Chuck tilted his head skyward, to the direction to the seven pillars that surrounded the Shrine of the Master Emerald. Atop of them were the multi colored jewels that sent Chuck, Jules, and their allies that sent them into this world, the Chaos Emeralds.

In Echidnapolios, Locke the echidna hermit of Angel Island was transported into the city after Shadow performed Chaos Control on the Gizoid. Locke fitted in ancient world well and didn't ask the reality of it, for he almost believed this to be his heaven if his fellow marsupial-species talk about anything but war and battle. Few warriors question their actions, while the rest of the lot just bragged about their 'hyper' feeling when in battle and can't have enough of it.

Locke was strolling around the town's center, where a huge temple was built to pay respects to the snakes and echidnas, and heard nothing but the locals talking about, or getting into, fights. The only words, that differed from the surly noises, that manage to get through Locke's ears, "The Severs are… the seven chaos," Locke darted his head to the direction to the words' origin and found it in a form of the girl that Chuck and Jules spied at the fountain, "Chaos is power, power is enrich by the heart. The controller serves to unify the Chaos." The young girl then realized that Locke was paying close attention. "Hello friend, how are you?"

"What were you saying earlier?" ask Locke, who was intrigued by the girl's sayings.

"Oh, it's something my grandmother taught me. We haven't been introduced, I'm Tikal."

"Locke. Tikal, I'm new here, I can't understand what the others are saying. Is there going to be a war?"

Tikal's beautiful smile faded to into a sad pout, "My father, the chief of the Knuckle Tribe and ruler of Echidnapolios, is going to cause a battle with his best warriors against small infant like creatures, who don't know the meaning of battle."

Locke was shock by the chief's cruelty, "What hopes does the Chief gains from all of this?"

Tikal's frown dulled lower, "Ever since grandma died, Father wants nothing but power, by any means necessary."

Locke felt a knot in his stomach, "Sickening,"

Tikal glanced at the young hermit with great hope in her eyes, "Maybe… you could persuade the other warriors to avoid this dark act," Tikal then pointed to the east side of the city, "The gates to infants are over there. Wait for me when you pass the doors, don't advance any farther than that. I'll be with you shortly" Locke nodded and followed Tikal's directions while the young lass waited her father, reciting her grandmother's mysterious verses to pass the time.

Shortly after that, the interlopers, Shadow and Maria, slowly snuck by the other echidna warriors. The two stop and relax at a cliff, where no one else around to brother them. Shadow survived the area, to see if it met his needs, "Maria,"

"Ya, Shadow?"

"Stay here, where it's safe."

Maria only responded with a bunch of, "SHADOW!! You incentive little twerp! You think just because I'm a blonde girl, I would be deadweight to you. Mr. Wrapper of Space and Time, and another thing-" Maria's rage finally resided enough to realize that Shadow was already gone. Maria just growled a few swears to absent Shadow. She continued until she heard another argument, which involved Tikal and a bulky hairy echidna that is her Father. "Tikal," said her father with a tone that proved that he wasn't listening, "we need those emeralds for power."

Tikal was outraged, in her own settled way, "But killing people, going to war, is all of this really necessary?"

Tikal's father turned his back on her, "It's power to the people, and they are your people too."

Tikal continued to pled, but her caring heart goes unheeded. After Tikal's father left her all by herself, Maria made herself visible to the lonely lover. "You have guts by standing to your father like that,"

Tikal turn to see the blonde girl, though new to her, she trust the warm glow that radiated through her blue eyes, "But I'm not strong enough to stop his plan,"

Maria encouraged her, "I know the feeling, no matter how hard I struggled against my grandfather, I'm still in the same place, doing the something. But you are fighting against everything he stands for, that's real valor, no matter what everyone else says. You must trust the feeling in you heart."

Tikal gave the space girl a lovely smile, "For one so young, you have a great sense of morality."

Maria smiled back, "I had a lot of time to think about stuff like that."

Tikal told Maria about the infants', known as the Chao, fountain and that there is a secret passage that will guide the outsider to safety.

Shadow's quick speed enabled the demonic rodent look like a 2-second blur to the naked eye. Shadow followed his senses that lead him to the Chao Fountain Garden. From there, Shadow sees the seven Chaos Emeralds and the large Master Emerald. "I can finally fix what I have done wrong," Shadow said to himself, relieving himself of the guilt of sending his parents and friend into another time and space. Shadow slowly advance to multicolored jewels, trying not to jinx this blessing, when her heard Tikal's voice, "Please Stop," he turn to see the young peace lover with his spunky friend, who reassured the echidna girl by simply saying, "Don't worry, Tikal, the demon in skates is with me,"

"I'm sorry, I thought you were one of my father's warriors." Tikal apologized for her thoughts of Shadow harming the children. She then walked next to the demon hedgehog, showing no fear, "Can you feel it, the spirit protecting these children? He is a very loving being. But if the attacks continue on these creatures, I fear the spirit might go malice on my people. I just hope that we can all live in harmony with each other. If we do that, then all of the evil of this land would be purged out of all of us, and that we can fight when it's truly necessary,"

Tikal's soothing words made Maria open up, "I'm from a world like that, but its also the reason why I had a empty life; and now that life is starting to dissolve around the edges." Maria gave Shadow a said look, "Shadow, we must return to ARK before the military finds out that you have gone M.I.A. Grandfather's work has caused much unscrupulous feelings to the military. Rumors are spreading that if the Ultimate Life Form is not exactly what the military intended it to be, they might invade and silent all proof of ARK's weapons. The scientists onboard might even execute them for national safety."

Tikal gasp, "Why would your own people harm you? You are giving them the power they desire,"

"Tikal, there are some things are meant to be discovered, while others are meant to be buried; things that can destroy us all and Shadow is one of those things- no offense Shade," Shadow had no negative feelings towards Maria's remark, "Tikal, we need those Chaos Emeralds for the necessary survival my people on Ark,"

"Ha, I like to see you try" said Jules unexpectedly. Everyone turn to see him and Chuck thoroughly wet from quill to sneaker.

Chuck reported his and his brother's events, "When we tried to get the emeralds, we were assaulted by an unknown force."

"Feh," went Locke behind the group, "Doesn't that hair ever go down, Bush Pig?" Everyone turn to see the echidna with great joy, or in Jules's case, extreme rage.

"That's hedgehog!" he bellowed.

"This is an interesting reunion," pointed out Maria.

"By your strange clothes, all of you must not be from this world," Tikal guessed. Everyone acknowledge by nodding. "And you need the Chaos Emeralds to return to your world, yes?" Everyone nodded again, "I'm sorry, but the Emeralds are not mine to control."

Locke was curious why the Chief of the tribe had no control of this land when it so close to the tribe's city. Tikal answer that the force that protected the Chao and soaked Jules and Chuck also prevents unwelcome interlopers from reaching near the alter and it's winged residents. She also told the group that the once peaceful when Tikal's grandmother ruled the tribe but when she died, Tikal's father, Pachacamac, took command with an iron fist. He has been sending hordes of warriors to capture the sacred stones, only to be mysteriously transport away from the shrine. The reason why is the guardian of the Chao and the Shrine itself. "We must ask the guardian's permission before you can use the Emeralds." She then the group up the step of the shrine and halt in front of the Master Emerald. Tikal put her hands together before she began to beg, "Chaos, I ask you, please send these travelers to where they belong."

Everyone's head turn to the water in the fountain when a small pillar of water emerged from it and began to take shape. First it formed four limbs, two legs and arms, with two digits on each end, its head was egg shape with its ruby brain visible in the clear liquid and also two big green eyes with no iris. This being was what Tikal called upon. She has summoned Chaos, guardian of the Chao and the deity of Destruction. Tikal turned to the group and said to them, "Chaos has heard my pled and has agreed to return you back to your homes, but…"

Locke noticed Tikal sadden face, "But what?"

Tikal continued with her bad side of the group's hope, "But he will not be able to protect the Chao during his absence and my father is planning to attack. So make it a quick trip,"

Chuck was hesitant about leaving, "We shouldn't leave without our Chaos Emeralds,"

Shadow spoke in his sternly tone, "The longer we're here, the more we put the space colony in risk of shutting down, besides, the emeralds' powers are too great for our world's good."

Jules sighed, "Oh, I guess being super genetically strong and fast is good enough for you, but I want to see the miracle that happens when all seven-" Chuck then pinch and twisted Jules's ear to silence his whining and force mature logic out of his lips, "Ow, okay, okay, let's go back,"

Chuck paid his respects to his ancestor, "Tikal, I you are the most inspiration echidna have ever meet in my lifetime. All echidnas are warriors are heart, but you try best to avoid that and achieve peace."

Shadow went up next, "You have opened my eyes as well,"

Maria was the last one, "And you are my first friend who has the same kind family problems as me,"

Tikal replied to everyone's comments, "Thank you all. However brief, I found our encounters together most enjoyable. Farewell friends." Tikal gave a respective bow.

Maria gave her farewell, "Sayonara, Tikal."

Jules was get inpatient, "Fine, fine, let's go already,"

Tikal gave a tip to the travelers, "Take a deep breath,"

"Uh?" went the unaware Jules as the water being sneak up behind the group and shape shift itself into an orb big enough to engulf the travelers. Soon it began to shrink and sip, with its occupants also inside, into the creaks of the alter. But little did Tikal know that one of her father's warriors were spying on them


	8. Angel Saga Starts

Angel Saga.

Prologue/ Recap

Maria stumbled through the darkness every since Chaos 'transported' her, Shadow, Jules, Chuck, and Locke from the world of the two blue hedgehogs and red echidna to her time and world. If Maria had more experience on earth she could probably know where on earth she is. But little does she know is that so not on earth itself, but on Angel Island, the only sanctuary to the nearly extinct echidna people. The Island itself was once part of a plateau, home to the Knuckle Tribe and the Shrine of the Master and Chaos Emeralds. The Tribe's greed for power leaded them to attack the child fairies, known as the Chao, and invoke the wrath of their guardian, a water deity known as Chaos. The Chief's daughter, Tikal, was friends with the guardian and fairies and desired not the power of the Chaos Emeralds. When Chaos absorbed the emeralds to smite the Tribe, his angry then ruled him. Tikal's wish for no more deaths or hatred empowered the Master Emerald, which sealed both Chaos and Tikal within its mystical space. But before that happen, another set of Chaos Emeralds were in that world and time, brought there along with Maria and her animal friends from a battle agonist an ancient alien war machine. The conflict of Chaos's rage and Tikal warm heart had increased the power of the Chaos Emeralds of the shrine to a new level while the other Emeralds were scattered across the world, never to be found again until needed (or to be more specific, during the debut of a certain fast blue hedgehog in red sneakers.) The Master Emerald and the 'Super' Emeralds then buried themselves into a chamber deep in the earth and cause a large portion of the plateau, with a few saviors of Chaos's wrath, to break off and float away from evil hands for eternity, but even banishment has its limits.

So Far But Not Quite Right

_This is just great, _Thought Maria, _First a psycho robot tries to demolish the space colony, then I'm transported to another world by Shadow and, then again with that Chaos thing which sent me to who knows where, which is 4 hours ahead of Florida. This whole thing… rocks, because I now have friends, like Shadow. But even though that world was great, it wasn't my earth. I want to see that world with Shadow._ Maria stopped in the darkness, thinking why Shadow is in her mind. Then it hit her, she began something she thought she would never thought she could be: a fan girl.

Meanwhile, above ground, the three hedgehogs and echidna stood around the decaying Master Emerald Shrine ruins, as though waking from a midsummer's night dream. Shadow stood there, in awed from the wind's soothing blow. Locke turned to the center of the shrine and saw the Master Emerald missing from its spot. Locke's sanity first showed to break away with a simply eye twitch then followed by a not-so-simple rock pummeling.

Jules said to Locke, "Hey! Chill, Chili!" The young blue hedgehog then stop the eccentric echidna with a powerful leg lock.

"My destiny, my destiny is stolen!" shouted the maverick marsupial.

"It's just a stone, pal."

"That stone was guarded by my ancestors, nothing is more important than my duty."

Shadow's head then drupe, for he now thinks this: That he must do his original purpose that he was made for, and nothing else.

Chuck noticed Shadow's depress look, "What's the matter, Shadow?"

The ultimate life form then spoke in a lifeless tone, "I'm conscious with out duty,"

"What are you talking about?"

"There is no reason for me to here, no reason to be up and about. I must be at ARK, to be graded on my performance to see if I pass or defective."

Chuck's jaw dropt, "D-defective?"

"If found defective, I must be decomposed for analyzing any flaws of predecessor that might be found in the next Project Shadow." Jules and Locke stop fighting when those words entered their minds. They got up and brushed off the dirt on them, they then step up to the cold-hearten clone. Jules scowled first, "Shadow, don't every sell yourself short like that again."

Shadow countered, "But Locke said that his duty is the most important thing to him; and as a clone of him, my duty as being the perfect being is most important to my existence."

Locke spoke up, "Shadow, I wasted my life guarding the Master Emerald, I could have done anything else, but I didn't. Just because you have my DNA, doesn't mean you have to be like me, you have some of Jules's too."

Chuck then gave his two cents, "You might have been built by the military as a weapon, but you are a living thing. You have the power to control your own destiny."

_I have that power?_ Thought Shadow, _I have that power! I AM a living thing! I AM made out of the DNA of Jules and Locke! That's something Maria would say… _"Oh, snap! Maria! Where is she?"

Locke gave his hypothesis, "It must be the will of the Master Emerald. When the island faces great danger, the emerald buries itself into a cavern below us."

"YOU KNOW THAT BUT WENT ON A MAD BINGE?" shouted Jules.

"When I saw it missing, I jump to conclusions," mumbled the eccentric echidna.

Then a woman's voice caught everyone's attention, "You always do this with that big Rhine Stone of yours." They turned to the source: a red echidna female, her long locks were wrapped in white ribbons. She also had some brown hair growing atop of her head. She in a black leotard, covered with belts on ammo.

"L-Lara-Le?" were the words that came out of Locke when he laid eyes on the tightly clothed lass.

Jules began to poke fun, "Is she your GIRLFRIEND, Rock Boy?"

"If true, does that mean she's my mother?"

Lara-Le heard what Shadow said and holding back all her rage she simply said sternly, "What?"

"Why are things so difficult for us?" sighed Chuck.


	9. The Future Is Now!

A special anniversary special for all you readers.

You saw part of Shadow's past, now see his future.

The Future is Now.

Maria's Point of View

Ow! I step on another rock. I wish Shadow was here, he probably has echo-location or something. Opps! I did that again. I'm trying to think Shadow to a minor, trying to not to get too attach to him. But still… if Shadow was here, he'll defiantly found out where I am fast than Jules on a caffeine rush.

And for the umpteenth, I trip. My body was still not use to the jagged cave floor, so I was cut up bad, but that's not important to me. I worried about Tikal doing with her war mongrel tribe. Her peaceful spirit rivaled by an entire city's lust for power. I pray that the angels will support her.

I'm also worried about gramps and everyone on ARK. The government began to fear everything on ARK and is inching to find anything to shut it down, not to mention snatching some projects to stay ahead of the arms race.

I found my second wind, "I don't care what happens to me, I'll accept Death's meeting it let me know that everyone I love is alright!" Insane: yes. But it was crazy enough to put on some lights.

The crystals growing from the walls began to glow up, responding to my strong emotion to be with Shadow; and for your information, feelings like brother and sister not boyfriend and girl friend. As everything began to brighten up, I found a giant hot spring. And let me tell ya, walking around in a space suit in both blistering heat and jagged bottom caves can make anyone smell and swore and a hot spring is mighty inviting.

I won't bore you, or tell all the perverts on the internet, about my change of outfit. I slowly dunk myself in the warm liquid. I feel my sores dulling slightly. I tilted my head back to drench my hair.

_Shadow was standing off with against a blue hedgehog, much like Jules in every way possible_

What's going on?

_The two were just standing in front of a sunset on a cost of an Island of the Sky._

Is this a dream or a version from the Chaos and Master Emeralds?

_As the sun went down and the sky darken like a vile. 14 emeralds and seven rings encircled around the two hyper hedgehogs. They first reached their super forms: the blue one's fur glowed a golden aura while Shadow's black fur glowed in silver._

The Chaos and Master Emeralds? Why am I thinking about them?

_The two now reached their Hyper Forms, the Golden Blue's fur was now transcending in bright rainbow colors and Shadow's fur is glowing white with shifting eclipsing black portions, as though to show the never ending battle of good and evil._

_The rainbow rodent gave his taunt, "Too bad you can't go to Super Form 3," The seven rings encircled and then absorbed into Shadow's opponent's body. A bright flash engulfed the sky; and when dimmed, the opponent was now a blue hair, teenage human in a red shirt, red pants, and red sneakers. This great change in appearance was equaled to the increase of power, but Shadow still smirk and laugh manically._

_The sinister smiling Shadow then inform us at what he laughing at, "You think engulfing JEWELRY makes you stronger? Have you forgotten the true power of the Chaos? True power comes from the heart and mind. I may not have the ability of reaching SF3 by absorbing the combined forces of the Chaos and Super Emeralds with the Chaos Rings. But I have something more powerful than the Rings; I have my friend, MARIA!" Then the spirit of me in form of an angel. I approach Shadow and gave him a supportive hug of my sisterly love for him. As I made contact with the Ultimate Life Form. A flash happened once again. As it ended, Shadow emerged as teenage girl with black and red hair wearing a black jacket and pants with red streaks on the knees and elbows. The transformed Shadow smirked again and began to speak in my voice, "Let's find out who is the true Ultimate Life Form!" The two then charged at each other_

Above Ground

Third person POV.

"The Dingo Squad invaded the island before Chaos Control from the Emeralds sent us here," explained Lara-Le. "After you and the rodent interlopers left with that bald headed man, they invaded and built stations all around the islands."

Locke spoke up, "The only why to reach the chamber where the Master Emerald is hiding is on the other side of the island. First We need to go through The Mushroom Hill, then Snowcap Mountain, then wonder through Sandopolis, from there we'll journey through the pyramid's secret entrance that leads to Lava Reef, after that we're in the Hidden Palace where the Master Emerald is located."

Lara-Le gave the boy echidna a grumpy look, "Locke, I would normally ridicule you about your obsession with that Rhinestone but with the Dingoes here, they could use it as a weapon of great power. They're currently working through the Pyramid, so let's get going! NOW!"

Jules whisper in Shadow's ear and the ebony rodent said, "Is there anything I could do, ma?" Jules snickered at 'Ma.'

Lara-le glared down at Jules, "You find that amusing, Blue One?" Jules went from snicker to quiver when he saw the fury in Lara's eyes. The echidna female turned her attention to Shadow, "And what can you do."

Chuck filled in, "Shadow here has the DNA of both Locke and Jules. He has incredible abilities that can tip the odds in your favor."

Shadow step up with a stern look, "I refuse to do anything unless I know where Maria is." Shadow then closed his eyes. "I can sense her on the island, but not a precise location. Something is overriding her life force."

"She and the Master Emerald might be close together." contemplated Locke.

Lara has now met her wick's end, "What part of 'Let's get going! Now!' don't you boys get? We should start running and talk about this."

The four young fighters then took off at blur pace speed. Chuck might not be as fast as his younger brother Jules, but he manages at his own pace. The two crimson echidnas took the lead as guides for the hedgehog tourists. An idea popped in the older hedgehog's mind, "Jules, you still have your walkie-talkie?"

"Ya," answer the younger of the two blue brothers. "You never shut up about it."

The older brother then stirred right and broke away from the group, "I'll catch ya guys later."

Lara-Le then shouted, "Do you bushpigs know how to Spin Dash?"

"Yes, and it's HEDGEHOG!" Shouted Jules

"I believe so," called back Shadow.

Lara-Le informed the boys at what's come up, "Mushroom Hill has a lot of ramps, but the Dingo lack our Spin dash and wall clinging abilities, so they built a bunch of springs and Levers to get around."

Shadow was in shock, "All of these for two echidnas?"

Lara-Le answered back, "Two echidnas that know this place like the back of their spikes."

The Blue, Black, and two reds rushed through the forest with greatest of ease. Lara-Le provided the boys cover using smoke screens. Shadow and Jules cause the wild dog soldiers to past out by making tornado level spins while Locke shook the island with his punches that caused the Dingoes to misfire. As the group reached the end of the forest they were confronted in a Dingo in black armor that could fly by a usage of a fire jet-pack. The dingo was well plump and had an axe for a weapon. The war mongrel then made his long winded introduction, "I'm Lt. Iron Ax of the Dingo Military. This forest is just fodder for the great powers fire and metal."

Locke protested, "This 'fodder' happens to be home to many creatures on this island. You have not right to steal their homes."

The lieutenant gave Locke a smug face, "Those creatures were just fodder from my hunger. Their lives were worthless, they're only destiny was to give strength to me, I even a hedgehog like you two for-" Iron Ax was cut short when Shadow jump up into the air and gave a piercing punch to the lieutenant's torso armor and caused the cruel chump to fly into a thick 500 year old tree, this causes his armor to break off and one piece hit his head.

Shadow stared down at the dropt dingo, "Though these trees are defenseless, nature herself will retaliate for them. And when you pick on innocent creatures to fill you glutinous gut, I will avenge for them; for life is all but useless."

Lara-Le was in awe by Shadow's words and mutter to herself, "Strong heart and full of respect for everything… that's my boy."

Before the group went off again, Locke and Lara-Le buried the glutton up to his 3rd chin in the ground.

Meanwhile, Jules was very familiar with this part of this forest, it was where he and Jules landed in their bi-plane, the Tornado, and 'met' Locke. Very soon, the blue rodent found his red and yellow plane. It is small, but so were Jules and Chuck. It's also new, contumely built by Chuck himself. There are still some bugs to be ironed out, but you can't turn down anything in an emergency.

Chuck leapt into the cockpit, snapped on his goggles started up the engines. The machine slowly roared to life as the propeller's wings burled into a solid gray circle with a red line at the edge of it. The machine moved forward at a fast pace, but not enough for take off. Chuck is risking a lot, for he plans to get the plane running by going straight before he runs out of Island and crash into the ocean. The plane started to lift off the ground by a couple of inches before it touched down again. Only 4 feet left. Chuck shrieked in horror as he fall of the floating Island, then again from excitement when he began to fly above the landmass itself.


	10. A Wing and A Prayer

Sorry for being late, I'm so lazy. Here is the newest chapter yet.

Wing and a Prayer

Maria's POV.

_Shadow walked up to a house built into a tree, the nearby mailbox, which was full of letters address to one 'Sonic' sent by an 'Amy', had the words 'HEDGEHOGS' painted on it. Shadow stared at the door what felt like a year to him._

They're waiting, Shadow, don't let them down.

_Shadow finally mustered the strength in his heart to move forward, fighting off the doubt in his mind. When he opened the door, elderly looking Jules and Chuck were there waiting, as well as a blue woman hedgehog. Shadow then noticed a purple girl hedgehog and two hedgehog brothers, one green and one blue, who were in their teens coming in the room. There was a moment of silence._

That blue hedgehog, who is he? Why does he look like Shadow?

_The adult Jules spoke to Shadow, "Welcome home, Shad."_

_The young blue hedgehog then gave the ebony entity thumbs up, "Welcome home, bro."_

Bro? Were he and Shadow brothers? But Jules and Chuck look years old while Shadow is the same. Could Shadow be immortal? No, it's not that. Something… in the future did this to him, something…. Not of his choice. Something… against his will.

Huh? The vision, it's breaking apart by some sort of disturbance. Something's coming, something cold. A loud blast of stone broke my trance completely.

On the far side of the lake, a tank with a mining drill for a hood ornament busted the wall down. Soon some werewolf like creatures in field uniforms came in through the hole in the wall, huddling around the pool. The strange lights that glowed when I came died at some point when I had those visions.

The center of the spring began to bubble as a certain jaded mystical jewel began to emerge from the water.

"General Stryker, we found it, we found the Master Emerald's hiding spot."

Instinct instantly told to go under water as soon as Master Emerald gave off a green glow. I stayed submerge as long as I can hold my breath. I felt a strong urge to resurface and breath, and I did so. As soon as mouth and nose were out of the water, a huge hand grabbed my arm and hosted my out of the water.

My captor was 10 foot dingo with a buzz cut. Compared to my preteen size, he was a giant. A giant with a stomach that would be almost be around my size…

One of Chucks eyes kept a look out for land while the other pay close attention to the fuel gas, which showed that to be 3/10 full.

When they meet and left for Ark, Professor Gerald told Chuck that there was a city known as Station Square due west from Angel Island's location. And in Station Square was a base for the military Guardians United Nation, also known GUN. Chuck hopes to reach this base to get reinforcements, but deep in his mind, he half-expected the tragedies that would befall on ARK if he did.

"Tornado to GUN Base: Respond, please. Tornado to GUN Base: I have a message from Prof, Gerald." Said Chuck into his radio, knowing that no one can resist a message from the head genius of their own world.

"GUN Base to Tornado:" went the radio, "We have you on radar, do you need assistance?

"Yes, how far am I from the nearest landing strip?"

"23 miles due 178 degrees northwest, can you make it there? Over."

"I'll try. Keep an eye out for me; I'm a blue hedgehog flying a red biplane."

"One of the hedgehogs that are supposed to be on ARK?"

Chuck hesitated, "Yes."

Ice Cap Mountain proved to be a difficult climb, not even the dingoes made a base of operations on the perilous peak. Jules was the only one who was shivering in the group. "I-I-I'm turning bluer than I already am."

Shadow, being built by the military of course, felt nothing, "Relax, father. It's only 15 degrees below zero."

Locke sneezed while walking close behind Lara-le. "Cover you mouth!" Scold the female echidna.

"Well _excuse ME_!" grunted the male in an annoyed tone.

As the small party continued forward when a jet with the Dingo Army logo one it flew right above our heroes.

Jules managed to find his funny in the cold with the ringing in his ears, "Don't you guys have Sound Polluting laws around here?"

Lara-Le began to curse and gave her flying opponent an odd hand gesture, "You flea bags can straight to-" she was cut off the jet over passing them again.

Jules turned to Shadow and said, "That's your mama."

Locke turned to his female counter part, "Have anything to take something like THAT out?"

"No, I had no idea that they brought jets here. They must have been cloaked when I was spying on their camps."

Shadow skated after the jet, with his shoes at full blaze, and launched himself into the air and onto the back of the plane. From there, the pilot saw him and started to do a vertical climb. Frost started to grow around both Shadow and the jet. As air was getting thinner, Shadow began to lose felling in his body and his grip on the plane went limp and began to fall.

Shadow did not like this feeling at all, falling in such a cold and airless environment in such a weak state. His blood was unevenly portioned in various parts of his body, almost like they given up on him and just standing around till the end comes. If only he was stronger, if only…

Lara-Le, using her abilities to glide, manages to catch Shadow in her arm. The project, whose eyes were burned by wind and ice, thought he was seeing his guardian angel.

Jules and Locke, who were mad as a t-rex in a tofu factory when they saw they're boy almost died, got into a special formation; Jules curled up in a ball and Locke holding him like a bowling ball. Using his ancient echidna strength, Locke launch the blue pin covered pinball towards the jet. With all of it's reinforce titanium steel plates, the plane was quickly dismantle as a twig in the inferno of the two fathers' wrath. Jules mange to tear through the plating, server wires and gas-lines, and cut off the right wing. The flying death machine soon plummeted into the ocean while the pilot drifted safely on land via parachute, but he was still unfortunate enough to land three steps away from a ticked off echidna mother. The dingo, who was at least in his early twenties, muttered to himself, "4 thousand dollars just went down the sinkhole."

Lara-Le lifted her giant glove hand over the canine's head, "And a big lump on your head!"

THEWP!

The dingo punched the female right in gut with an evil smirk on his face. Locke rush towards Lara-Le, using a strong punch to shift his weight for more speed, and gently catch her in his huge palms. The dingo looked down at the crimson couple, "I am a descendant of the head chief of the dingo tribe Stryker, the tribe that your ancestors destroyed long ago. Every dingo on this island has a linkage to the ancient tribe, and they're also linked by the motive to kill off you echidnas."

Jules took a fighting stance, "_Man, these guys need to get a life…_", and said to the cruel canine, "Alright, you demented dingo! First you made my boy pass out and fall to his death, then you knock out Locke's girl. That' ant cool at all!"

Locke patted his fists against one another, "No hurts any echidna on MY Island."

The hero hedgehog and the extreme echidna charge to the canine. The dingo pulled out a gun but Jules manage to disarm him, not to mention removing his combat armor, and Locke came in and punched the dingo so hard, his stomach lost its depth.

The dingo wrapped his arms around the sore spot, "How, I was the top graduate in solo-missions. I have the ability to take down any echidna."

Jules just smirk, "Whadda about an echidna and a super cool, super fast, super slick hedgehog?"

A nearby secret camera planted in a hollow tree monitored the dingo collapse.

Shadow slowly regained consciousness. He found himself. Sitting a front of a fire, with his fathers and napping mother around it.

"What happened?" ask the confused.

"Nothing much," said Jules, "Just taking down losers a peg."


	11. The Weapon

The Weapon.

(A Maria Chapter.)

"Madam," said the towering dingo, "I can't bring in a soak girl with out clothes on to base."

"Why you-" Maria started but she soon came across that the dingo, let alone all the other dingoes, has his eyes close. Who would have thought that a wild dog would be a decent gentleman?

The dingo slowly lowered Maria to the ground. The behemoth then took off his military jacket and tossed it on top of Maria. "To you, it's big enough to be a towel." Maria, who didn't wanted to offend the big carnivore and his friends with guns, began to dry off. The coat's name tag said "Gen. Stryker."

Soon after Maria dried off, got dress and turned to Stryker, "Okay, your prisoner of war is ready."

The general smirk as he laid eyes on Maria, "Don't worried kid. Our war is against the echidnas."

The soldiers then stop loading the Master Emerald onto their jeep and just extended their arms into the air and said loudly: "Let their last's blood be spilled on the ground!"

"_That was creepy,_" thought Maria and she said the massive general, "Then what are you going to do with me?"

"We can't have a kid wondering around with out parental guidance."

"_Ya,_" thought Maria, "_You rather have him as dinner. I better play along; they might have Locke or Shadow as prisoner._"

Maria agreed to follow after General Stryker to DOP (Dingo Operation Post). The canine commander then said to Maria, "You might run into a few hotheads at base and you might give you grief for being different; if something like that happens, tell me and I'll knock some good sense into them, Miss…"

"Maria," replied the space girl, "Why do you guys hate echidnas?"

All of the soldiers, except for Stryker, did their pose and said out loud, "Let their last's blood be spilled on the ground!"

"Do they always do that?" ask Maria out of discomfort.

"We hate-" started the general but stop to for a better choice of words for obvious reasons, "our enemy is that they dishonor our ancestors many years ago and we aimed to reclaim it."

Maria was shock to hear that and thought, "_They brought all these soldiers here… to settle a grudge they had eons ago?_"

Moments later, Maria and soldiers arrived at the dingo outpost, built in Lava-Reef Zone. The molten rock is a source of energy to the dingoes, because the magma, along with everything else natural on the island, by the Master Emerald. They took Maria to a brig, since they didn't expect to come across with any civilians on the island. Maria didn't mind, she went through the something when she was a little girl. Back then, she was confided that was only secured by GUN, and there's hardly a place for a little girl to go in a military Strong hold. She couldn't even go outside and walk down the street in Station Square; for the military worried that she could get kidnapped and be used as blackmail against her grandfather. Maria only went to a park once, and that was the same day her parents died in the car accident.

General Stryker approach Maria's cell with two food trays, "You're lucky," said the gigantic general to the earth girl, "You came in around lunch time. Today's meatloaf, I made it myself." Maria would have been reluctant to eat food made by a dingo at first, with hair and all. But she knew when to be respectful. Maria accepted her food when Stryker passed it through the bars; he then pulled up a chair and began to enjoy his meal in the blonde's presence.

In the middle of meal, the General then said to Maria, "Your friends are most impressive."

Maria choked a little bit, "My… friends?"

"Ya, the guardian of the Master Emerald, the female echidna, and those two hedgehogs gave off a great show. They manage to knock out my little brother."

"But… how did you know I was with them?"

The dog simply tapped his snout, "This old nose knows,"

Maria hung her head, "So… I guess… you came here to integrate me."

The dingo smirk, "You're not stupid. Okay my first question is this: how long have you being in the government? Your clothes are too plain to be a simple school Uniform, which just leaves military-civilian clothes in the bin."

Maria glared at the dog, "What you just said was very rude, I kinda fancy this outfit." Maria did indeed enjoy her blue civilian gown. The color reminded her of the Earth's blue sky.

The dingo smirk at Maria again, "Don't take it personally, Maria."

"Personally!" said the enrage girl, "You and your people are going to slaughter my friends for some incident over of thousand of years ago!"

The General dingo lowered his head, "I know. I'm letting the echidnas gain entrance to the pyramid to finish them off; I'll try to spare the hedgehogs if they intervene."

"You can't do this. Not all the echidnas from that time were war mongrels, the chief daughter of the Knuckles tribe tried to stop the war."

Stryker was surprise to hear that, "And how would you know that girl? More than half of the Knuckle Clan was wiped out over a long period of time."

Maria opened her mouth but her mind told her to shut up. What would Maria say? 'My grandfather's bio-experiment made a rift in space and space that brought me to the time of the Knuckles Tribe and was sent back to the present via water monster.'? Maria also thought about Tikal. "_More than half were wiped out?_" thought Maria, "_Tikal, you always avoided your tribe's trends, I hope you mange to avoided that mysterious death._"

General Stryker continued to talk, "Look, do you think I enjoy this?" Maria look at the dingo in surprise, "My people are wasting time trying kill off the echidnas for generations! And the only way the dingoes can have a future is to destroy the chains of their past! I'm sorry but for the sake of my people… the sake of my son and his children… the echidnas must perished."

Maria had nothing more to say. She understands completely what the General has to do. In order to free himself from the grip of the military, he has to end their threat. The girl from ARK wondered if the same thing would ever happen to her. The dingo mastermind got and left. Maria knelt down and began to pray, "Please let the greater good fall between the dingoes and echidnas. Please let there be no deaths. And please… protect Shadow."

Meanwhile, in the dingoes' research lab, the scientists make great effort in tapping in the power of the Master Emerald. The powerful rock was place in a glass container, which had a series of wires connected to a massive mechanical gantlet, all of these things glowed with dark green energy.

"Those echidna scum are going to get a dose of their own power," said one of the scientists.

"When General Stryker faces them in battle." Finished another.

Speaking of the devil, the General came and spotted his new toy. He pulled off the power cords and strapped on the gantlet. It fitted pretty well. The turned to a machine made of the strongest metal that the army could buy and pointed at it with a 'gun' hand gesture. A small pulse of energy, almost like a bullet, strike the machine and melted through the armor in a minute.

General Stryker took another look at the contraption on his arm and said, "This should end every thing." But little did he know how right he was.

Author Notes: This story's General Stryker is the father to the comic book Stryker.)


	12. The Military’s Best

The Military's Best.

The two rodents and marsupial, Locke carrying Lara-Le on his back going at unaltered speed, navigated through the temple they found in Sandopolis when they came down from Ice Cap Mountain. The temple they were in is very complex, like a maze with three floors. This journey for our heroes was long and exhausting until Jules spoke out.

"Locke, we've being traveling in circles!"

"What makes you sure?" asked the offended red one.

"We past this rock before."

"Prove it, Bush Pig,"

Jules pulled off a Post-It that said in the hedgehog's handwriting, "We past this rock before! PS: It's HEDGEHOG!"

"Well, excuse me!" said Locke in a grumpy tone, "The dingoes alter the interior of this place to make room for their machines. This whole place might go out with all these crevices and broken slopes!"

"You forgot to mention the sand," Said Jules has he emptied out 3 pounds of sand from his right shoe onto the sand that was already on the floor. "Where did all of this stuff come from anyway?"

Shadow butted in, "My great sense of direction tells me we're about 30 feet below surface level. It could be possible that all this sand leaked in here through the cracks and fissures."

"Can any of your senses tell us where Locke's engagement stone is?" ask Jules.

"Engagement?" ask Locke.

Jules smirked, "You and 'Double L' seem to be getting acquainted."

"Let's go already," grumbled the blushing red echidna.

After many tries, the group managed to find the entrance to Lava-Reef. The view of this place was both beautiful and horrific. Jewels and pits of magma everywhere that the eye can see.

"Why is this place called 'Lava Reef'?" asked Shadow, "We are underground and lava that's under ground is called 'magma'."

"Maybe the guy who discovered this place didn't had a chance to make that correction." Said Jules as a molten-rock geyser erupted behind him.

Locke closed his eyes when his quills began to shake, "I… can feel the Master Emerald's power."

Lara-Le began to stir, "Is that all you can think about?" she said very groggily under her breath.

The small group continued on forward. They discovered that the dingoes built some kind of transport in the cervices that can withstand the heat of the magma. But they traveled with caution, for they haven't encountered a single dingo since Ice Cap Mountain. The journey continued deeper and deeper, deeper than a floating island should be. Only the tapping of their shoes echoed through out the carven until Jules finally notices something, "Is it just me, or have we been traveling in one direction since we got to this place?"

"Yes, I believe we are," answered Shadow.

"To me, it seems like a cheesy video game," replied the Blue Hedgehog.

"Will you two be quite! We getting closer to the Hidden Palace." Snapped Locke.

From where our heroes are, the earthy terrain was cut off by smooth pewter tiles on the floor and the walls were now blue-like marble that's evenly smooth. They continue to trek until they confronted by mobs of dingoes, booing and snaring at them.

Shadow's Shadow Sense began to tingle, "We're perfect targets now, but they haven't open fire on us."

Locke filled the others in, "Dingoes like their enemies to suffer greatly. And we're probably on top of their list, so laser fire isn't their choice of execution for us."

Jules added his own comment, "They look like they're watching a fight," Then, General Stryker, his glowing gauntlet making a menacing fist, walked out of the crowd and take a fighting stance in front of the heroes. Jules just frowns, "I'm starting to hate of being right all the time."

Shadow's energy senses detected to mystical power that is empowering Stryker's mechanical gauntlet. And immediately steps up to fight. In their own silent way, the two meaning looking Mobians agreed to fight each other. The dingoes kept urging Stryker to go for the echidnas. But the gigantic General ignored them. "You have echidna-blood flowing through you," said the General

Shadow was just a blunt, "Your six-sense is very acute, and having a weapon charged by the Master Emerald just barely brings you into my league."

Locke glared at Jules, "Now he's trash talking like you,"

"He does have your stale attitude, y'know." Responded the blue hedgehog.

"A very bad combo," said Lara-Le as she waked.

Shadow started the first move, using his air shoes to lunge forward while charging up his inner 'Chaos' power for an energy punch but the general caught the small the rodent's blow in his mass gauntlet. Shadow quickly kicks the dingo leader in the gut, thus letting go of Shadow's hand.

_Maria, even when you're not around, you're still supporting me,_ thought Shadow, _Every time I use my energy based attacks, his gauntlet just naturalize them, and I can't use normal physical attacks, that for sure. So I guess that leave me to out-smart him._

This time, Stryker made the opening move, walking over to Shadow with no mercy in his eyes, in fact, there was nothing but whiteness. He extends his glowing hand to Shadow's head, in hopes of crushing it. Shadow drop down and kick behind the General's knee, causing him to collapse.

000

Maria leaned against the bars, turning a bobby-pin she stuffed into the lock. Maria's grandfather gave that to Maria to keep her hair in place when they're going to ARK, it's one of Maria's many good luck charms. A smile appeared on the blonde's face when she heard a click. She swung open the door, not fearing the security. (Which was at the Fight.)

Maria began to wonder around and started to talk to herself, "Okay, Maria, get a grip. You're on a floating island, in a base built by wild Australia dogs that want to wipe out the rest of a nearly extinct species, which is conveniently built in a place where you can't walk 10 feet without seeing magma, other than that; you're fine. Fine as a log in a lumber mill, that is."

Maria wondered into the lab where the Master Emerald is being held. She was amazed at all of the prototype weapons that the dingoes have. They had every thing, like a gauntlet that can pop out an energy blade, which happens to come in children sizes. "This is like the ARK of my nightmares, pointless weapons being built just to satisfy a grudge." Said Maria holding the child-size weapon.

"Ka-ZEEEEEER! Ka-Bow!" went a security monitor that was behind Maria. The young lass turned to see, on the black and white screen, Shadow fighting off General Stryker. Maria ran closer to the television, "Oh no they already started fighting!" Maria noticed something with General Stryker and leaned closer, "Wait, what's wrong with Stryker?" Maria noticed the absent of life in the dingo's eyes as he clamp his gauntlet on Shadow neck. Maria's eyes began to well up with frustration, knowing that she can't do anything, but in spite of that; she yelled "STOP!" atop of her lungs. While doing this the Master Emerald began to glow a light shade of jade…

OOO

Feeling both his throat being burned by the negative energy and crush by the mechanical weapon, Shadow knew he was going to die. His only regret was that he couldn't say sorry to Maria, for letting the ARK, her grandfather, and herself down. Tears leaked out of his crimson eyes as he wished that he can only make it up for her.

"_For your pure prayer,_" said a voice in the Ultimate Life Form's head, which sound very familiar to him, "_Your wish is granted by the power of the Master Emerald._"

Shadow's body was in case in a brilliant burning green aurora. Not only does he feel his powers returning, but that they're surpassing their limitations. General Stryker released him and flinch back from the burning sensation, Locke noticed this.

"He jumped back because he felt heat through his glove?" pondered the hermit.

"Maybe Shadow is going supernova," said Jules.

"That maybe true, but why didn't he jump back sooner, the heat from Shadow must be great enough when exposed with no protection."

Jules noticed another thing wrong with the picture, "Hey, ya. And Shadow is glowing like a star, but that dingo didn't moved or flinch from that."

The two looked at each other and said in unison, "He back off when the glove was brunt!"

The shine Shadow's jet black fur increased until it turned the ebony hedgehog into a silver being with red streaks. Soon, small groups of pitch-black auroras appeared on Shadow's shinning fur and began to move around, as if the dark aurora was battling against the silver in an ongoing conflict.

OOO

Maria looked at the screen with a hanging jaw, "Just like in my dream." She then notices the glowing presence of the Master Emerald and she had a gut feeling she had something to do with Shadow's transformation.

OOO

The rowdy dingoes' cheers stop when they saw the menacing glare from the refreshed hedgehog's narrowed eyes.

Shadow opened his mouth and said in a booming voice, "**I AM HYPER SHADOW**!"

"Hey, Shad. Use your inside-a-echo-filled-cave voice." muttered Jules was he pulled his index fingers from his ears.

The now hyper-charged Ultimate Life Form turn to his parental unit and said "Sorry, pops," in a normal tone while his eyes turned back to normal (or as normal as they get.)

As the glowing hedgehog was apologizing, 'General Stryker' took this time to strike. He rushed over and punches Shadow at the back of his head using the gauntlet. Shadow felt no pain and ended up denting the General's hand armor. The general screamed in pain. This brought back Shadow's 'narrow' eyes back on his opponent.

"Don't you think it's time to reveal yourself?" said Shadow.

The 'general' began to chuckle with great malevolence, "So, you figured it out, eh? Oh well, no more sense to be in this body of a bleeding heart." General Stryker then collapse onto the ground. His gauntlet still glowing pulled itself off the dingo's massive hand and began to rise up. From there the glove's glow began to grow larger and take a familiar shape.

Locke and Lara-Le hold each other close in fear.

OOO

Maria slowly backed away from the TV with fear in her steps. She was trembling fear as the glow final took a solid form...


	13. Mauling Mammoth

Mauling Mammoth

General Stryker's gauntlet formed a shaggy elephant like creature encased in a green aura, which concealed his brownish red fur with sand brown stripes going down onto of his head. Above the being glowing eyes were extremely bushy the mysterious mammoth was also wearing clothing similar an ancient Knuckle Tribe Chieftain.

"So what is this guy," Jules remarked, "Some sort of Jade Elephant or thing?"

"I felt this power before," reported Locke.

Even though the boys haven't met him, Maria did. Although it was a different animal, the spunky space girl identified the being as Tikal's father, Pachachamac.

Hyper Shadow step up to the presumed Pachachamac, "Who are you?" Shadow glanced at the gauntlet that was on his chubby right hand. "And how did you gain that kind of power from the Master Emerald."

The green aura faded when the beast began to chuckle, "From with in, of course."

Locke began to grind his teeth, "How could a negative entity like you dare even speak of being an entity within the Master Emerald!"

The mega mammoth replied with, "The Master Emerald is the stronger version of the Chaos Emeralds, which were created out of the Light and Dark Energies that spawned out since the dawn of time. But the Master Emerald does more than that, oh yes. The Master Emerald is made of the very factors of this universe itself, so it tends to absorb living things that are either truly pure or wicked. And by the way, WE have the right to do anything that involves OUR treasure."

Locke grinded his tooth smooth, "YOUR treasure?"

Jules sighed, "GREAT! A villain who refer himself in first personal plural."

"We were not gloating that much, you blue bushpig," growled the hairy giant

Now Jules was ticked off, "Why is it that everyone here refers to me as a BUSHPIG?"

Pachachamac continued what he was saying, "We were once separate beings that each perform dark deeds to get the power of the Chaos Emerald. One of us was from an ancient past of prehistoric times. We were once a mammoth called Mammoth Mogul. Mogul stepped on any creature he found unfit to pay tribute to lay eyes on his massive greatness."

Jules butted in, "SOMEONE- I mean- Someone's is-NO- was- AHHUG! This is a grammar nightmare!"

The mammoth showed signs of minor announced when he continued, "And he once tried to show off his greatness by embedded the seven Chaos Emeralds onto his chest-"

"EEEEWWWW!" Shuttered Jules.

A blood vain appeared on the side of the mammoth/echidna's head, "To so off his greatness to all who can pay tribute and tell. But Mogul was stopped short when a Chao defied him of his right. The conflict of good and evil between the two caused the very power to form the Master Emerald and the mighty gem trap the two inside. That Chao had the ability to exist the Emerald, but still bounded to it in the form of water.

"Our other half was once a great echidna chieftain that once ruled the great Knuckle Tribe-"

This time, Locke interrupted, "Straight into oblivion. My father told me stories of the Knuckle Tribe and how Echidnapolios was destroyed by its power hungry leader, Pachachamac. Even his own daughter was disgusted by his actions. I even went back in time and actually visited Echidnapolios under his world, and from MY point of view, the warriors there were dumb, thickheaded, arrogant, smelly, fat heads."

Jules gave the radical redman a thumbs up, "Nice," he then turned to the fused friend(s), "And that means a lot from that bozo."

The dingoes spectators, who wanted a fight of fist no words, began booing "Fight already!" and "Less yakking and more whacking!" This was the straw that broke the mammoth's back.

"You dare give US orders? US? THE GREAT AND INVINCIBLE PACHACH MOGUL!" The behemoth bellowed and his raised his gauntlet to the wild dogs and fired a dark green pulse wave that instantly vaporized everyone of the wild dogs with the exception of General Stryker, who unconscious.

The eerie silence after that was broken by Jules when he muttered in fear," He wiped them out in one blast."

"They were no threat to you, your almighty fearfulness," Lara-Le lowly growled.

"They were an annoyance,"

"So it takes a booing from a platoon of wild dogs to get under your superior skin?" smirk Jules.

"Yes, we also take great offence from those who can not tribute for being our presence, and frankly-" the massive mammoth pointed his fat filled finger to Hyper Shadow, "-he seems to be the only one worthy enough to be in my shadow." The spliced mammoth finally noticed Stryker, still out cold from the major drain of power. "And we have a descent test subject right here." Pachach Mogul lifted his thick foot and released it with a powerful stomp that shook the entire island, right on Stryker chest. An expression of pain was all that was on the dingo's face. Maria's heart skipped a beat when she saw the brutal act.

The malevolent mammoth turned to the color shifting hedgehog, "You used your powers to set a force field around this pest's body to lessen the magnitude of our blow. Why?"

Shadow finally spoke, "Because after getting empowered by the Master Emerald, I became fully aware of important events of all those who were on the island experienced. The general over there only fight us so his people can forget their anger and move on with their lives."

Pachach chuckled, "That doesn't explain a thing,"

"It did so," replied Shadow, "His hope for a better world for his people makes him worthy to live. Even though he detested the fact that death is to be the answer to solve the problem, he would pray for the echidnas' souls to tell them he had no real ill against them and that they would also find peace and joy in their paradise; that and he would also live by the echidna way of honor."

Lara-Le and Locke made solemn looks and began to approach to the fallen General. Pachach Mogul was peeved off when the two echidnas approach him with out his permission and was took in a deep breath to fire a giant gush of noxious air through his trunk. But Hyper Shadow, in a blink of an eye, jumped in front of the evil elephant and clenched his enemy's trunk by hand and swung him into an ancient, and possibly priceless, wall of marble.

Locke carried Stryker from the legs while Lara-Le took the shoulders. Lara-le looked at the dingo and said to him, "I thought all you dingoes wanted to prove that you were better then everyone else, even those who are superior to you. But I would never have guessed that there would be a good one."

"Just because I respect your people and culture doesn't make me better than my people." Grunted the dingo. He suddenly remembered his quest back at HQ. He got up on his own and said, "There is a girl in our base's brig. And I don't want her to be near that son of a witch, who knows of what sick things he would do to her."

Shadow eyes turned back to normal when he heard what the General said, "Maria?" His eyes sharpened again as he turned to his hedgehog father, "Pops, can you think you escort this dog to his base?"

"Can I leave a twin trail of flame on an off day?" was his cocky reply. He then grab the giant General, who use very confused of what Jules was going to do, and the two then broke the sound barrier, following General Stryker's directions to his base.

Locke and Lara-Le look at their hyper charged test-tube son. "You want us to follow Jules and the dingo?" asked Locke.

"To fight that thing without concern?" asked Lara-Le. Shadow nodded. "Well I'm afraid to disappoint you-"Shadow was amaze by Lara-Le's concern for him. She barely knows him and is willing to face a possible along side with him. "-This place has great value in echidnaian history, so don't blow it up." Some concern. Shadow watch as the last of his love ones left him to fight.

Pachach Mogul got up and punched Shadow at the back of his head, "Don't you turn your back at US!"

Shadow snared at his opponent(s). THEY were the ones not worthy of being in Maria's presence, a true angel in this world. Shadow fired an energy blast right at the brutal boss, who's right arm was glowing with an eerie aurora. The blast hit head on, it poured around his body like a rush of water. When Shadow finished firing, Pachach was still standing, unaffected by Shadow's attack.

Realizing his enemy has a shield too, Shadow teleported right behind him and fired a furious storm of small energy blast at Pachach's flabby back. The echidna-mammoth chuckled as he tilted his head to get Shadow in his eyesight, "Aw that was a great massage. Do you have anymore?"

"Unless it stops you from doing evil to everyone I care about, then no!"

"Shame, maybe you'll reconsider when we give you a taste of our power," Pachach fired yellow beams from his glowing eyes, sending Shadow flying deeper into the craven.

A blue and brown blur past the open door of the testing lab, Jules quickly dashed back while dragging Stryker when he notice Maria was watching the security monitors.

"Me and my son, along with the last of a nearly extinct race, having been racing around all over this place and you've been watching TV?" said Jules as he got near Maria.

Maria looked at the blue rodent and said to him, "I have been through a lot more than that, Mr. Dad of triplets."

"What?" ask the confuse father-to-be.

"Oh, nothing." Chirped the little 'angel'

Locke and Lara-Le came walking in, join the others around the television. Jules tried to be funny,"We need pop-corn, and I say it's the guy who knows this place best, I vote dog boy here."

Then everyone said, "You go, Jules."

"Yes, I total agree- Hey wait! Why me?" ask the blue dude.

"Because you're the one who can find the popcorn in this place 20 seconds flat," Maria pointed out.

"And find the microwave in 10," added Locke.

"And get back here in 5 after the popcorn's done," said the blonde and red echidna in perfect taunting harmony, "So GO!" Jules then speeded off with his hanging in the shame of defeat.

Meanwhile, Pachach Mogul was trying to DE-FEET Shadow by pulling him like a balloon-animal. The chaotic colored hedgehog started to overheat his body by using a large burst of Chaos Energy. Mogul sent out an equal portion of energy through his hands to counteract Shadow, but old tuck and fur was no match for Shadow's powers being amplified by his will to protect.

As the massive mammoth tended to his right arm, Shadow did a series of kicks to Mogul's back. The being of evil did not flinched, he just panted from Shadow's last move.

Losing his patience and control, Shadow fire a massive blast that caused Pachach's left arm to be totally vaporized. But Shadow's triumph was short as he gazed at seeing vapors of energy coming out of Mogul's wound and formed into his arm.

Everyone at the base gasp at horror to they saw, General Stryker rushed over to a wastebasket. "To think his a light weight to stuff that on almost all the good anime shows," Maria noted.

Lara-Le's eyes bulged, "You're saying that they're shows that show that kind of stuff all the time?"

Maria nodded, "Pretty much."

"THAT'S SICK!" exclaimed the female red echidna, "By the way, I'm Lara-Le."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Maria," said the blonde girl as she gave the echidna a gesture of a handshake.

As the two female shake hands, Jules came rushing in with a bowl of popcorn and said the phrase on his mind since he left: "I'm back! Whatta I missed," The blue hedgehog glanced over where Stryker was leaning over a wastebasket, "Something good, no doubt."

"I need more evasive ground," said the hyper charged hedgehog to himself, "I can't take that thing down without bringing this place down along with it." Shadow then floated near the malevolent mammoth and shouted "CHAOS CONTROL!" and with a blinding flash, Mogul and Shadow disappeared and then reappeared atop of Angel Island.

"What kind of magic is this manner?" ask the ego-filled evil elephant.

"This isn't magic," said Shadow as he fired a pulse beam right at Pachach's belly which sent him flying, "It's science."

Mogul regain his air-control and fired a yellow beam from his trunk, but Shadow put up a deflector shield and the beam bounce right back at the mammoth's head, which was vaporized straight off. Shadow thought if Pachach Mogul lost head, he wouldn't be able to regenerate. But Shadow was proven wrong as he saw the sweeping energy steam coming out of bloodless wound and formed into the villain's stilled ego-inflated head.

Shadow was scared pant-less, if he had any, "But how could you- without a head-"

Pachach snickered evilly, "We're not like most mortals, for WE are gods!"

Shadow was loosing it, how can he beat any enemy who can regenerate any part of his body when they are simply blown off? _Maybe it is hopeless_ thought Shadow. But then his muse hit him when he remembered what Maria said about him back in the past. Ark is in deep trouble; all it needs is a spark to completely ruin it. And that is Shadow not living up the military's goals. So Shadow can't give up, if he failed in this battle, the world will be ruled by Pachach Mogul and Ark, his birthplace, would be shut down and Maria would live on a planet ruled by an evil ruler. Shadow can't let that happen, no matter what.


	14. Breaking Point

Breaking

Shadow took deep breaths in order to keep his mind focus on staying hyper-charge. The Ultimate Life Form was hiding from Mogul in the woods. The two jewel-empowered warriors have been fighting for 15 minutes straight and Shadow is the only one who is short of breath as for Mogul's power is as steadfast as the battle started.

It was getting harder to control the power following through Shadow's veins, as for payment of boosting his bodily strength, the ebony hedgehog had to pay with his mind and will, and it was a struggle to muster up enough strength to stay hyper for five-minutes.

"I have to stay hyper," puffed Shadow, "It's the only way to stop him. Even if it kills me, Maria would be proud that I did of all this for the joy of others."

At a high attitude above the island, the mammoth/echidna entity was hovering and was also firing deadly beams of energy onto the island to flush out our hero.

Back at the Dingo Base, everyone was at their wick's end. Shadow was not in view of any of the cameras on Angel Island's surface.

"I don't know of any of you guys," said Jules as he walk to the exit, "I'm helping my flesh and blood."

Locke followed, "I coming too,"

Lara-Le did the same, "That bushpig is to great a warrior to be finish-off by that buffoon of a tyrant."

Stryker soon follow, "I owe Shadow for freeing me, and I owe something special to that mammoth who wiped out my platoon. Maria, stay here!"

Maria felt great anger, "What? Why? I have just a much, or more, reason to help Shadow as you."

The massive dingo began the lockdown code for the lab's door, "I know Shadow is you friend, but I think something bad happen if anything would happen to you," And with that, the animal beings left Maria in the lock lab. The spunky space girl rush to the metal door and began to slam her fist on it.

"Shadow, Shadow," said Maria as tears began to fall, "Shadow is more than a friend to me, he-he is- he is a…" Instead of finishing talking to herself Maria turned to the computer panel and began to try to open the doors, paying no attention to the images of Shadow dodging from Mogul's blasts on the Master Emerald

**_BOOM! _** Pachach blasted the mountain side where Stryker's little brother was.

Mogul's blasts were coming closer to Shadow. The massive mammoth then had an ego-filled idea, "Why must we simply blast this island at random targets? Why not instead we just crush up this island with our own two hands?" Pachach Mogul then closed his clear white eyes and concentrate. His arms and legs started to bulge larger, his gigantic gut expanded out to even more massive proportions with fat, his tusks extend further out of his mouth, and his head and trunk simple grew.

Pachach grew so large that he could simply stand ankle-deep in the ocean below the floating isle. He thunder voice rumble everything, "Behold and worship your new god and master!"

Shadow shuddered at Mogul's newly increased powers. Even though Shadow wasn't at full power, he still must face this threat because no one else can. The hyper charge rodent began to fly up to Pachach's face and gotten into a fighting stance.

The Master Emerald gave off a powerful green aura in response to Maria's desperate attempt to save Shadow, but even that didn't distract her as she continue to break the lock-down-code.

The Emerald fired four different colored beams that phased through the steel walls and the layers of dirt.

Jules, Locke, and the rest of the gang were in awe as they saw the tiny light that was Shadow flying around the massive Mogul like a fly.

"You think he can win?" ask Jules.

"He maybe distracting him from the island," thought Lara-Le out loud.

Locke punched the ground out of frustration, "Shadow fighting and there nothing we can do!"

Stryker began to crack his knuckles, "I owe that mammoth 2 punches. One is for taking control of me, and the other is for destroying my men!"

Just then, the 4 beams hit the animals and they soon began to change. Jules's blue fur shimmered into a brilliant shade of gold, Lara-Le's and Locke's red fur morphed into a shade of purple. And Stryker's dark brown fur shimmered into a brilliant shade of bronze. Each one was giving off a radiance of energy of their respective colors.

"The Master Emerald must heard us and bestow onto us Super Forms to assist Shadow!" explained Locke.

"And I have the feeling we're suppose to use them to take that fatso there," said Stryker.

"And how are we're going to use them," said Jules as his uncontrollable energy-field made him hovered above the ground upside down.

"Just focus and control yourself, bushpig." Said Lara-Le.

The goldenized hedgehog flipped right-side up with an intensified field, "Normal I would be upset by that remark, but I'm saving it for the target with the 800 pound booty."

"Then let's go now!" growled the dingo. He then pushed off the ground at breakneck speed.

The massive Mogul clamp Shadow between his two humongous hands and was about to crush him when four metallic-colored beams slammed right between his enormous eyes. The massive Mastodon lost both his balance and his grip on Shadow. The dual color shifting hedgehog flew to his radical rescuers. He was quite surprise when he found out they were his friends.

"Hmmm," murmured Shadow, "It seems that I'm not the only one who had a color job,"

Jules then noticed something, "Hey, we're powered by the Master Emerald too, so how come we're not how a tie-dye job like Shadow."

"The Master Emerald must have only enough power to give us Super forms, Shadow's hyper-form, and to keep the island floating."

"You think this must power can take **him** down?" ask the dingo general.

"Mogul may have more power than us individually, but together we may take him down," said Lara-Le.

Shadow, who was breathing hard from controlling the Emerald's power, gave his two-cents on the matter, "Yes, as long as we have the power of Master Emerald… there's no way we can."

The group then evaded Mogul's hand as he tired to swat them "Too bad he thinks the same thing." said Stryker.

"And that's the one thing I agree on with Mogul," said Shadow, this caused everyone to gasp, "You either have power or you don't. He may have the power to destroy the world, but we have the power to destroy HIM!"

Jules than fired an energy beam from his hand to Mogul's right eye, "Shadow, there more to power than that!"

Shadow just confuse to that, "What else is there?"

"Garr!" Mumbled Locke has he created an energy shield to stop one of Mogul's punches, "We don't have time to talk about this, let's just finish off chubby first!"

"Agreed!" said Stryker as he punched the massive mammoth right in the gut.

Jules flew above Mogul's head. "NOOGIE TIME!" he shouted as he began to charge the end of finger tips with eclectically chaos charge and unleashed on Mogul's head, giving him great discomfort as well as bald spots. In the meantime, Lara-Le has aim to knock Mogul off balance by slamming into the back of his knees. When the opponent tried to swat his pests away, Stryker punched Mogul's hand when he tried to squash Jules to his sculpt while Locke defended Lara-Le.

During all of this, Shadow flown of reach of Mogul's hands, which was miles to the hedgehog. The hyper hedgehog was flying above the massive mammoth, facing his back. Shadow lifted his right arm, his hand spread out, into the air; soon he started to channel energy into his hand, which produced a multi-color sifting orb that seems to grow larger with each pasting second.

"Your body can't regenerate if there nothing left, Mogul," said Shadow under his breath.

Soon Shadow's orb grown to a size that was triple his body size. As he his weapon of massive power with tremendous success, Shadow drop out of his hyper form and into is normal form in a blink of an eye and soon the power-drained hedgehog began to fall thousands of feet.

All of Shadow's allies saw the incoming blast and they spread out to avoid the blast. As the ball come closer to Mogul, he turned around and caught the orb with his right hand. It was great struggle to him to keep his hold on the energy bomb, but it was quickly absorb into Mogul as he completely clamp his hand into a fist. "You fool," he shouted to Shadow, who he can see with super-vision, "You were the only one who the real threat to us. And now that you're powerless, we shall strip the power from your comrades." Shadow then hit the ocean's surface and began to sink.

Maria gave up of cracking the door's code and tried to just crack the panel open and pull wires.

As she was about to cut the red wire, a mysterious, yet familiar, female voice from the Master Emerald said to her, "Maria, granddaughter of Gerald Robotnik, The Ultimate Life Form, Shadow the hedgehog is in danger. To save him, step through the Master Emerald." The emerald then glowed a blinding light and as it dimmed, the glass case that surrounded encased it disappeared.

Maria watch in awed as the massive gem displayed the image of Shadow drowning in the ocean. "S-Shadow," she gasped, "You're more then a project, more then a friend to me, you're-you're-YOU'RE MY BROTHER!" Maria then rushed 'through' the Master Emerald and disappeared.

While in the water, Shadow's mind went to another world. He found himself in a dark world, lying on some sort of ground, his head resting on Maria's legs.

"Wha-what happen?" asked the ebony hedgehog.

"Your body couldn't control the Master Emerald's power any longer so it gave out." Responded Maria.

"How did I get here?"

"This place is just in your mind, you're still sinking into the ocean. Shadow,"

"Yes, Maria."

"Why did you push yourself over the limit when you were fighting?"

"Because I have to, it's my duty and I wanted fulfill your wish of going to-"

"Shadow. That's good and all but, that's not really my wish. I was brought to ARK at very young age and my time on earth is nothing but faint memories. But then today happened. You coming alive, fighting the Gizoid, running around in ancient parallel world, and everything else that happened, it was all because of you, Shadow the Hedgehog."

"Are you mad? Did I do something wrong? Because you're crying."

"These are tears of joy, Shadow. Because of you, I become alive with adventure. Because I did went to earth, well sort of, and most of all, I made friends. Jules, Locke, Stryker, but most of all, you Shadow."

"I'm your… friend?"

"No, you're much more. Since Gramps made you from Locke and Jules, that sort of make us related and we are closer than cousins; I'm proud to call you my brother."

Shadow's body began to glow, "I feel stronger,"

Maria did too, "It's the true power of the Mater Emerald, turning our thoughts and emotions into power. And it's charging us with the power of love."

"'Us'?" asked Shadow.

Underneath the ocean's surface, a brilliant light shined out of its dark depths. "What is it this?" said Pachach Mogul with a tone of fear in his voice, "That's rodent's power is growing stronger! He must be stop!" He then fired a purple beam out of the tip of his index finger.

Before the beam could hit its initial target, Stryker appear in front of it and began to 'push' it back. "Pachach Mogul," he growled as he body began to glow an intense aura of bronze, "I shall make you pay to wipe out my platoon!" The massive dingo then 'broke' Mogul's beam. Stryker then turned into a bronze thunderbolt as he rushed towards Mogul's right arm, piercing through the gauntlet, and soon faded into nothing.

The two echidnas and hedgehog waited from to return but to no avail.

"You think he's…" said Locke.

"He was noble, to the very end," commented Lara-Le.

"Hey, wait a minute! Check it out," said Jules, "There' nothing in that guy's oversize armored mitten!"

And Jules was correct, there was a large gaping hole in Mogul's gauntlet and there was no sign of the mammoth's hand in it, you can just see the other side through the hole; however, since there in no right hand, Mogul could still move the fingers on the gauntlet.

"He has no real right hand!" said Locke.

"Come to think of it," said Lara-Le, "everything of Mogul's regenerated, even his cloths, except for his gauntlet. In fact, it was still damage from when Shadow crushed it when it was on Stryker, may the Avatar rest his soul."

"Ya, and didn't the dingo dude was possessed or something when he wore that thing? And also, the only times Mogul felt pain was when the gauntlet was hit?"

"Maybe… Mogul is nothing more then a vengeful spirit of the Master Emerald in the gauntlet!" said Locke.

"So if take out the mittens," conducted Jules, "Then big, fat, and hairy is splits-vile?"

"It seems that way," said Lara-Le.

A mysterious female voice echoed through the ocean, she was saying "Pachach Mogul! You nothing more then restless souls whose greed has gotten the best of them! And we'll take the duty to put them to rest! For we're Shadow's super-form-three!" The ocean then part as a teenage girl raise into the air.

The girl had raven black hair with red highlights in blade-like locks. Her eyes were ruby red along with some sort of red eye shadow. She wore a black lather jacket, as well as jeans, with red streaks on the elbows and knees. She wore Shadow's air shoes and she also wore a red tank-top.

Jules was dumbfounded, "Whoa! Is that Shadow… and Maria?"

"She does like Maria, with Shadow's colors and appeal."

Locke examined her, "Personal, she seems too mature to be Maria."

Lara-Le shot Locke a suspicious glare, "And **_how_** can you tell?"

"Well...umm…I-You see…" muttered the pervert marsupial.

"Your parole is up, Mogul," said SF3 Shadow as she blast at Mach 5 the Massive Mammoth.


	15. Power of Heart Vs Power of Mind

Power of Heart vs. Power of Mind

SF3 Shadow punched Mogul right in the center of his gigantic gut. The below mad the massive mammoth to stumble back, causing huge tidal wave in the ocean. Mogul wrapped his arms around his chest because of the pain.

"Oh, stick up a lip!" cried Shadow before giving Mogul an upper cut while going at 500MPH on his colossal chin. The super charged human/hedgehog hybrid then gave her enormous opponent a head butt. Mogul screamed at an earth trembling volume; while doing that, he shrunk down to original size.

"What's da matter?" taunted Shadow. "Did we scare you back into your original pudgy self?"

"No! We just want to beat you in the best manner. Size doesn't matter, you know!" Mogul then suddenly shrunk down to the size of a gnat, this cause Shadow drop his guard. Soon the microscopic mammoth, moving at a high speed, dealt major blow to Shadow, kicking her forearm so it would hit her right in her face, followed by an intense blow on her spine, and finished the assault by doing a crescent kick to the ear, which cause the warrior woman to go on an unpleasant trip of 3-miles across the sky.

"Alright, lets' amp this _down_ a notch!" shouted the ultimate life-form. She then began shrink down to a microscopic level like her opponent. As soon as the human/hedgehog was the size of her burly adversary, she jet off to him, while encasing herself with her own yellow energy.

"This form is perfect," said Mogul over his so called 'victory'. "At this size, we can strike fear in all those who would repel against us. We would strike at them at any time!"

Shadow then strike, and then phased through, Mogul. Shadow dropped her energy field after she came out of the malicious mammoth, who was paralyzed from Shadow's attack. The heroine hedgehog/human then charge up her hands with Chaos energy and unleashed a series of power-charged punches and karate chops at a blurry speed on her opponent. As soon as Mogul regained body control, he instantly cast an energy shield that reflected Shadow off of him. With that, Mogul began to shrink once more, Shadow saw this and followed pursuit.

The two began to try to outdo the other by shrinking. They shrunk past the point were germs are big as planets, past the level of DNA and molecules, they shrunk to the level where the gaps coexist within a DNA strand are as big as space itself. Each of the two animal hybrids raged on out, blasting each other atomically.

"Foolish girl, get out of our way!" said Mogul firing a photon bomb Shadow, "We deserve to rule all! We have the power."

"Ya right!" cried the heroine as she played 'leap-frog' with the energy orb, "The power to be a dewbie-dork!" Shadow then extended her left hand which started to glow yellow, the same thing happened with Mogul's left hand too. Soon the evil Elephantidae began to punch his own face with his own left hand. "Why are you hitting yourself? Why are you hitting yourself?" sang Shadow over and over again. The malice Mastodon broke free from that little trick and made with body glow with crimson rage. As his glow reached its peak, Mogul unleashed a devastating energy wave that radiated in all directions. Shadow, using her Jet-Shoes, began to fly away from her opponent's fire. As the wave inched near to her, Shadow preformed Chaos Control to get behind the blast.

As Shadow reappeared above the drained Mogul, she had her right hand vibrating with golden Chaos energy. As he hand shook violently, Shadow then yelled, "Chaos… CRASH!" and poured out clustered power from her hand, aiming at Mogul's gauntlet. As the mammoth provided a shielding for his medium, Shadow appeared upside down by his head and she then unleashed a devastating 'break-dance' spin kick upside the mammoth's head, breaking his concretion for his force-field and Shadow's energy blast, which was still going, tore the metal glove apart. When that happened, Mogul gave out the cliché "NOOOO!" and then broke into two orbs of energy, which took off and reentered the Master Emerald.

Shadow panted hard over her well earned victory, she grew back to normal size and landed on the Shore of Angel Island and spilt into Normal Shadow and Maria. The two look at the horizon above the endless ocean, bathed in the orange light of the daily sunset.

Jules, Locke, and Lara-Le still were looking where Mogul and Shadow were at before they shrunk out of view with great impatience, thinking that battle between the two is still going on.

"I'm waiting!" said Jules as he checked his watch while tapping his foot in an annoyed rhythm, "Those titans have been clashing over for hours, isn't one of them dead yet?"

While the two super charged echidnas slowly creep behind Jules, to cease his ramblings of him being bored, Chuck flew in front of their view, saying "The Calvary has arrived." And on cue, a squadron of G.U.N. aircraft followed the elder hedgehog's trail. The funny thing was that all those high-tech war-crafts were following the pace of Chuck's handmade biplane.

As everyone chuckled from the amusing sight, their super forms' color seep into the ground from their head down, kind like a water-cooler with a running fustiest. "The powers must be returning to the Master Emerald," hypotheses Locke, "The battle Between Super Form 3 Shadow and Pachach Mogul must be over."

Speaking of Shadow, he and Maria were taking a small hike through the forest, using Shadow's sense of direction to guide them to their animal comrades; the two looked overhead, seeing Chuck and his biplane being followed by G.U.N.'s planes and choppers. Maria stop right in her tracks, hesitating on what her next move, may it be loyal to her grandfather and all of his colleges on ARK or to Shadow's well being.

After landing, Chuck and several armed G.U.N. approached Jules and the two echidnas. Chuck rush to the three and said, "I'm back, anything I missed?"

"Everything," answered the three.

Locke just glared at the military soldiers; he then huddled up with his fellow Mobians. "Prof. Gerald lied to us," he said in a harsh whisper, "He promised us NOT to tell of us or of Angel Island."

"Well, we did disappear in a blinding flash along with his Ultimate Life Form and granddaughter; I think we should cut him some slack." Said the ticked-off Jules.

"Should we tell them that we lost the Chaos Emeralds in the past of a parallel dimension or what?" added Chuck.

"You didn't tell them?" ask Jules,

"They sent a squadron when I mention 'Project Shadow is on Angel Island' and they just followed me back here, with radio silence on the way."

"Weren't they concerned for us?" said Locke. Chuck shook his head.

"Should I have anything to do with this conversation?" ask Lara-Le

"No," said all the boys in unison.

While Lara-Le cursed, Locke step up to explain, "I think we should explain-"

"That Project SHADOW is dead." Said Maria as she appeared behind a tree, "After that Chaos Control on ARK, Me, Jules, Chuck, and the weapon ended up here. The girl echidna was here when we arrived, and informed us that an enemy unit, with the intentions of stealing the Emeralds-"

"Where are the Chaos Emeralds anyway?" ask a foot solider.

"There were in the Gizoid when Chaos Control happened, so that means there gone. POOF! Nada! Nunca! Nowhere! So, as I was saying before: Shadow volunteered to take them down. And he did, but at the cost of his life." Maria tried to hold back her tears.

nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

Shadow look down at a water puddle, whose sky blue transparence remind him of both of Maria and what she said to him…

"_Shadow, you know my original wish was to go back to earth, live a life there. But after what happen today, you granted my true wish: To have a real life. You gave me some real experience that I couldn't learn on ARK. Trust, friendship, beating up ego-filled jerks, but most of all, love. Even though we're two different species, you are the closest thing to a brother that I would I ever had. You protected me, you understand me, and so much more with no orders what so ever. So, in return, I shall…lie to the military, saying that you died in a fight."_

"_But Maria," said Shadow, looking at the tears rolling down the space girl's cheek, "What about the people on ARK? Won't they be fired and force into hiding by G.U.N. if I no longer on the space colony? What about…you?"_

"_I DON'T CARE!" said Maria, "I just want you to be happy, Shadow. If you go back to ARK, you will do nothing but rigorous training and meaningless battles! I just want you… I JUST WANT YOU TO LIVE A LIFE! And besides, for every greeting, there is a farewell. Don't worry; I'll see you again in a few years. By that time, I'll be out of G.U.N.'s reach and I'll have pilot's license so I can fly a private jet here and see you. So wait for me okay?" Maria extended out her hand to the ebony hedgehog._

_Shadow just stared at it, "…Okay." He then extended his arm out and two shook hands._

The cloud patterns and the sky's color, an end of the day twilight to a high noon sky, instantly changed for three seconds and then rested back to their original position. The demonic looking rodent tilted his head to the clouds, to see if the swift would happen again. During the phenomenon, Shadow felt as though he was in another world.

nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

"What just happen?" ask Maria looking at the sky.

"It's happening again," said Jules, who spoke with out his trademark punk-attitude accent.

"What is?" ask a military grunt.

"The way we got here, in this dimension. At first the sky changed rapidly and until it stayed completely different. In our world, the changes started at noon. I believe that Angel Island is going back to own universe, along with any on it." Said Locke, not seeing that he stroked a cord with Maria.

"We should leave immediately," said the squad leader.

_So this is good bye for us, Shadow._ Thought the blonde, she then spoke to the Mobians, "You know, Shadow's last stand happen is in the central of the forest over there. There is no body, just a vaporized earth-I mean- floating island. But if you want to give your good-byes to him, tell him, for me, that… it was… fun."

Locke, "… I understand."

"Okay Jules," said the fast blue hedgehog to himself, "Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't…CRY!" The rad rodent then broke out a shower of tears. Chuck reliantly gave him a tissue from his vest pocket. Lara-Le kept a straight face.

Maria looked at them, sketching the image in her mind, "Well… see Ya."

As the Mobians gave their farewell and depart to regroup with Shadow, a helicopter hovered above where Maria was standing. A rope-ladder was cast down to her. After climbing in the chopper, Maria kept watch on Angel Island, refusing to blink. The floating isle faded in and out until it faded completely out of sight. A warm tear rolled down Maria's cheek and splashed into the ocean.


	16. The Reunion

Author's Note: Sorry for taking so long, I have a habit of procrastinating.

Reunion.

Maria's Point of View.

_Shadow, I miss you…_

The loud patter of the helicopter's engine was muffled out from the inside of the ship. I as I sat on the worn out bench. I started to remember the short period of time of when I was on earth.

It was when I was six-years old and on a cold Christmas night, I called up Mom and Dad, who were on a business trip together. The reason why I called was because it was getting close to midnight and they still haven't come home.

"But… you promised me that you'll be home from your trip from Istrue," I whined into the phone while sitting on the cold, dark kitchen floor.

"I know, sweetie, but our plane is being held up…" said my mother

"And it's I**srael**, dear.**" **Corrected my father.

"I don't care if it is real; I want you here, now. Cousin Ivo is such disturbed dork."

"Honey," murmured my mom, "You know Ivo's parents are always busy and have little time for him."

"But that's no excuse for destroying my dollies. The only one left is Mr. Blue Mouse, and Ivo is just tormenting him like a cartoon villain."

"So sorry about that," assured my dad, "But like we said, our plane is-"

"THEN TAKE A CAR!" I scolded, then I said in a hush tone, "I miss you so much, the house is too quiet without you swearing every time you stub your toe, Dad, and when Mom scolds me for eating to much cookies, Grandpa let's me get away with everything."

The phone was quiet for a five-seconds, then I heard Mom and Dad said, a second before midnight, "Merry Christmas, Maria." Then they hung up.

Ironical, I got news of their death on New Year's Day, the day when everything starts over, for the good… or the bad. I was building my seventh sand castle in the park, Ivo went Godzilla on my previous projects, with Gramps watching me from a park bench when a man in black approach us and told us the grim news. I was giving two choices; go with gramps, who was planning to stay onboard his space station to oversee its construction which would take years to finish, or go live with Ivo's family. And you know what? I never did regret choosing the space station over Ivo.

But the one thing I did regret about that choice was that I couldn't really have a life on there. I was like a bird, raised in a cage since I hatched. Only to gaze at a unknown world that I knew I would belong in.

Toys, comics, and friends, those were the things ARK didn't had for a young child. I was the only kid onboard, restricted from more than half of the Space Colony. Up until today, until Shadow, My life was just a bore. I know Grandfather loves me, but he's too busy with ARK to spend time with me. I understand his position; but still, it was still a large void for me.

I sighed greatly; my thoughts keep leading me back to Shadow. I hung out with that genetic project for less than 24 hours and I'm already depressed by his farewell.

As I tilted my head to the window, I could see that the copter had already reached shore and the sight of metal and glass skyscrapers filled the window.

"Soon we'll be at the GUN base," I said to myself, shuddering at the remembrance of my first 'visit' there.

Unsurprisingly, the place was still as cold as ever. After we passed over the 40-feet tall wall barricade, which stood in front of twenty rows of guns turrets in a square motion, I could see the simple dark-gray steel, windowless, cubical building that was GUN's main base.

The helicopter soon landed on a platform that was a twenty miles away from the main-hub. Around now, I'm starting to wonder, will I ever come to anything? I know that I merged with Shadow to beat the living snot of a prehistoric elephant with hair problems, but I have a feeling that there's more to my life than that.

"Here I go again," I muttered to myself before I began to walk out of the copter. The last time I was here, I was launched into space.

Maybe that'll all I'm good for: trashing a Pachach Mogul. And now that's done, I'll spend the rest of my life on ARK until it's done too.

Me and my lieutenant-captain escort were walking down the walkway when one of his officers took him to where he noticed something odd about our copter, I followed the two and I didn't believe my eyes. Hanging there, like an upside-down squirrel on a tree branch, was Shadow on the tail of the helicopter. The ebony hedgehog's fur was cover in frost and from the tips of his quills, there were small icicles.

"Shadow," I said in disbelief, not knowing to either to faint at the sight of the friend that I was sure that I would never see again, or just simply laugh at the ridiculous state that he was in. "What in Bloody Hades are you doing?"

The ice around Shadow's neck cracked while he tilted his head and winked to me with his right eye, "Returning for duty for GUN Military."

"Why are you covered in ice?" I asked again.

"The air gets cooler the higher you fly," he answered.

"Wait a sec!" said one of the grunts who turned to me, "I thought you said he was dead."

I couldn't answer that question. But Shadow did, after letting go of the tail and landed on his feet. "Oh, please," he said in a 'don't-care tone.' He stood in front of me and said, "Did you really expect a young girl like this to tell the truth? Look at her record, she nothing more then a punk kid. Or perhaps her loony imagination has gotten the best of her." It took all of my will power from grabbing one of the nearby soldiers' rifles and flog Shadow with it but when I looked into Shadow's red eyes, I knew, that he half-expected me to smack him silly.

_Space Colony ARK…_

The Control Room was total pitch black, with the exception of the blue light emitted by the holographic computer monitor where Gerald was station, looking up the files for the Ultimate Life Form.

In the upper left of the screen, a small window of red audio-sound-wave.

"Your younger brother is dead, Bio." Said the renowned professor to a crimson

"Will ARK be in trouble?" Was the Computer's monotone reply in Gerald's voice, or as it seems…

"Probably. Heck, Shadow might even be dead, and he was so promising too," said the old man as he dragged Shadow's file to the Recycle Bin Icon. "I might as well update your profile now Bio."

"I feel great usage as ARK's Power Core Director." Replied the Computer once again.

"Yes, it was a good thing we had you Chaos Control within the computer to manage out all that energy we were planning to use for the Eclipse Cannon."

"But it needs Emeralds,"

" I know, and recent reports tell me that the Chaos Emeralds are gone since they recovered Maria and the others."

"But we have Drives,"

Prof. Gerald pick up a red glowing cylinder on the die of the computer console, "Yes I know, we have the Chaos Drives, but their being use to power GUN's patrol robots; besides, a hundred of these are a quarter compared to the power of one Emerald."

"We must try, father"

Just then, the only door into the room opened up when one of the professor's subordinates enter the dark room. This room is quite a mystery to the lower level of staff on ARK. The only things visible in the room was a walkway to the computer console, which both seem to be over what appears to be a dark chasm, and the walls that encircle the room. "Prof. Gerald," reported the scientist, "They found Project Shadow, he's alive."

"What," said the professor in annoyed tone.

"It turns out Maria was just mistaken about Shadow's death, and-" the young man's voice was then drowned out by a loud roar that can only be descried as monstrous. The room vibrated from the high-level of bass of the roar.

"What was that?" he ask, still covering his ears incase the roar would return.

"GET OUT NOW!" shout the professor and he waited till his college left the room to turn to the center of the room.

"To complex to fix, must destroy it all to have peace!" said the computer, which now giving off red light from the screen, with dull emotion.

Even though what the computer said would baffle anyone who listened to it, Gerald just acted as though the computer was silent. "I was going modify Bio and present him in, but they'll now take interest in Shadow since his my latest project, but I've deleted his profile. What will I do?"

"Too complex! Destroy is answer!" said the computer again, Gerald again ignore the message.

"Calm down, Gerald, just calm down. Find your peace." The doctor then closed his eyes and began to think of other things to distract his mind from his predicament. As soon as he achieved his inner-nirvana, the computer screen's color scheme returned back to blue.

"Solution found," said the computer screen.

As if the computer was link to his mind, Prof. Gerald found the answer too, "A test." He said to himself, "We shall prove to GUN of Shadow's powers by showing him fight you, Biolizard, Shadow's 'Too-Dangerous-To-Use' older brother. What do you think, Bio?"

"We share brains, idea is acceptable."

"Right, silly question," chuckled the Professor, "I must be going mad."


	17. The Fathers' Farewell

For the very late and short chapter. With all of school and homework, I have been kinda busy for my stories.

The Fathers' Farewell.

Jules and Locke tried to follow close to Shadow. Ever since they told him that Angel Island was returning back to its own dimension, the ebony hedgehog dashed to where the military copters and jets were at. As the two parents of the bio-project managed to breakthrough the thicket to the edge of the floating island, they saw their son jumping towards a copter and clinging to the tail of it. Soon the fleet of aircraft, along with Shadow, 'warped' away in the sky as the island crossed-over to its own universe. The two just stood silent there, silently wishing for their son's safety.

Soon the two, along with Chuck and Lara-Le, went back to the Dingoes' home base, just for the heck of it. As they traveled, the lone survivor of Mogul's assault back in the cave managed to get into one of people's jets and flew off back to his home nation, to report to his superiors well using a series of colorful adjectives.

At the base, Chuck found some fuel for his biplane to have him and Jules to reach the main land, Lara-Le found some weapons that she could use in case the Dingoes ever come back. Jules and Locke, themselves, decided to carry back the Master Emerald to it shrine.

"This is SO pointless, Lou," complained Jules as he push behind the green rock.

"And what makes you say that, Bushpig?"

"Oh maybe because… WE GOT TO THIS FRIGGING PLACE USING NOOKS AND CRANNIES THAT ARE HALF THE SIZE THIS STUPID ROCK!"

Locke covered his sensitive ears while Jules's outburst was bouncing off the wall, causing numerous echoes. When they stop, Locke just ignored his blue partner and just continued to head to the surface. On their path, came across a giant mount of boulders in the tunnel, there was a small gap at the top of the stone-mound but it was too small for Master Emerald(they found this out after a unnecessary and stressful attempt even with fair warning from Jules.) With that, Locke then considered placing the stone nearby the holy tapestry, which was nearby the Dingo base. Jules was taken by this, in sort of speak.

"WHY DIDN'T WE JUST DO THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE INSTEAD OF DRAGGING THIS THING AROUND?"

"Your lack of patience and discipline frightens me." Said Locke sternly, "The Tapestry is a holy object of which the elders said that depicts the battle of good and evil when an "Egg of Death" would appear and…

" 'And the monkey, taught by a turtle hermit, flies in on trusty cloud, leading the Blue Bear, Silver Hawk, and Red Crab into battle where they'll combined their spirits to perform incredible feats of strength, speed, and endurance.' Oh, COME ON! When are you going to loosen up? It's no wonder why Lara finds you annoying. Now let's get this rock by your painting."

"It's a tapestry," corrected Locke as he pushed his end of the Emerald (they are now going back where they started now.) "By the way… what else does Lara-Le think of me as when I'm not being annoying?" Jules just gave a strong sighed.

000

The two had finally reached the tapestry, showing off an a dark human like creature, reaching for the Master Emerald while fending off a blue hedgehog who was in gold flames. Jules stop his pulling to gawk at the artwork, admiring the hedgehog. Locke grunted after he placed the Master Emerald nearby the depicted prophecy, he then whispered some prayers for good fortune for the stone. When he was done, Jules ask him,

"So who is this handsome devil?"

"Be careful with you choice of words, he is the Island's true protector. He only appeared in the elders' visions. Though he is yet to appear, it would be in times of great peril."

"So you and your ancestors were the tempts for the place while he is away, I guess."

"I prefer the term… stewards."

"That's just a fancy name for temps."

Locke felt he was loosing ground, "Well… I don't see you with a better title."

"I do too… but it's a secret, so I won't tell you."

"It isn't going to be lame, like 'Blue Blur', will it?"

"No!" said Jules defensively, "Who in their right mind you call himself that?"

000

In celebration of finishing off an ancient enemy of Angel Island, the two echidnas and hedgehogs had a big celebration. Jules was a bit gross out on how Locke and Lara-Le got their meat on the floating isle, from skinning wild boars to barbecuing ants on a stick. Luckily for the blue racer that there was a larger portion of fruits than meat being served.

After the party, the group just looked up into the starry night, enjoying the day of life that they almost lost. Jules and Locke were together; both knew what was on each other's mind.

"Do you think Shadow is alright? In that world, he is considered a minority." Ask Locke.

"With my speed and your brawn, Shad can handle thing that could comes his way." Jules than pointed straight to the moon, "Just as the Moon stays in orbit with Mobius."

"You know, that's not a very sure thing with my people. It has been said that…"

"Just take the message of hope, Lock."

000

The two hedgehog brothers were ready to leave in their plane. Locke and Lara-Le came to say good-bye.

"See ya later, Lock."

"Farewell, Bush pig"

Chuck kept a hold of his younger brother to keep him from fighting with Locke, "I hope to see you two again"

"As me too." Said Lara-Le.

Jules just smirk and said, "But not before you and spike head over there get hitch. Otherwise you'll have someone better to date."

Locke took offense and shouted, "WHAT DOES THAT SUPPOSE TO MEAN!"

Jules and Chuck climb aboard their plane and made it start rolling towards the edge of the island. As the small ship gain speed, it started to lift off the ground and started to fly. Before leaving the island's air space, Jules had Chuck do some sky-writing. And after a few stunts, a picture of Jules's, Shadow's, and Locke's head floated above the island.


	18. The Return

**The Return**

It was the craziest two months since Shadow and Maria returned to the GUN base. The blonde child was kept separate from the ebony hedgehog, but the clever hybrid managed to visit her by sneaking through the air vents. Maria was glad to see him, but found Shadow's strategy to be puerile and cliché, she did consider it original when Shadow accidentally snuck by the girl washroom.

Time passed and it is now time for two friends to return to ARK using GUN's newest space vessel, Space Hawk, powered by a new fuel source (kept highly secret of course) that will allow GUN Ships to perform space travel like a normal plane performing transcontinental flights. In a few hours after take-off, Space Hawk landed in ARK's docking bay. Not only did the spaceship gave Maria hope of actually visiting earth again, but to also have frequent trips to worlds and seeing new wonders.

When the two got off the prototype space vessel, most of the scientists onboard ARK were there to greet the two travelers back (mostly for Shadow, really). Many of the workers crowded around Shadow, saying it's great to see him again (even though this is Shadow's first time meeting them face-to-face.) Maria, sadly, was left unnoticed. The young lass just stared at the crowd, giving all of their attention to the 'new child' of the ship. After what occurred to her today, Maria couldn't help but feel her heart being tugged.

"Maria," said a familiar voice. Maria broke out of her trace to see her grandfather standing next to her, with a smile on his face, "And how was Angel Island?"

"Fine." Maria was just glad to see her favorite love-one again.

"'Fine?' Angel Island was fine while it was under an invasion of military extremists?"

"What?" she asked, forgetting her lie to the grunt solider already. Luckily it came back to her. "Oh! It was fine at a safe distance from the fighting."

"Then what made you so sure that Shadow had perished in the fight then?"

'WHAT?" she went again, also forgetting that lie she told the solider too. "Well… um… I kinda figured that because…. Shadow made a huge blast that left the area totally barren. I just presumed he performed a kamikaze."

"Well, I'm just glad that he's alright… oh, and same to you, Maria."

The warmth from her grandfather flicked out in Maria, "If it is okay… I want to be in my room."

"Why? You just got here. We're going to have a party for Shad-oh wait! During the party we're going over top-secret files that personal only can go over. Sorry."

Maria put up a false smile, "I figured that much."

And without anyone really noticing, as usual, Maria began to walk back to her private quarters.

Maria's heart felt deeper pains than ever. Before her adventure, Maria had just cabin fever; she had forgotten most of the things 'minor' feeling of earth: The warm of the sun against the skin and the shivers from a cold wind against one's face. Now that Maria experienced these feelings again, this time with friends, she felt empty inside now that Jules, Locke, Chuck, Lara-Le, and even General Stryker are gone. Never to seen again in her time. But she did have Shadow, but still… can she really enjoy his company while he is a super secret military bio-weapon while she is just a normal class citizen. By law, Maria isn't even allowed to know about Shadow.

When she reached her room, Maria instantly plump down on her bed. The image of earth was in full view from her window, but Maria had her fill of just seeing earth. Even her dreams of going to earth bored her. She now long for company, especial from her little brother… Shadow the Hedgehog.


	19. Darkside of Ark

The Darkside of Ark

Maria had unintentionally fallen asleep on her bed; her thoughts sort-of had drained her will to stay awake. The young lass stretched and yawn before looking at the numerous clocks, each for earth's different time-zones.

"Oh," said Maria in a mocking tone, "12:05PM Australian Time. I'm late for launch."

Maria then left her quarters and strolled through the halls, still kind of annoyed at the fact she's the only on board Ark that actually has fun. On her way to the Mess Hall, Maria noticed one of the observation lab doors was opened and when she walked passed; she saw Shadow standing at the window and was starring off into space. Maria, glancing around to see any on-coming scientists that would interrupt her moment with Shadow, walked up the ebony-project and noticed what he was starring at: a view of the earth at the bottom of the window. Shadow just glance his eyes over to Maria for a second and switched them back to the earth. Maria took a wild on what was on Shadow's mind ad started a conversation.

"What do think earth is like, Shadow?" Maria asked, "Cause it's very different from Echidnapolios. Earth is filled with different cities, some are made of steel like the Ark while there are some older than Echidnapolios itself."

Shadow just drupe his head down, "The professor once said that his life work is to make people happy through the powers of science."

Maria was amazed by Shadow's gloomy-disposition, "Shadow, I-"

"Maria, I just don't know anything any more. The professor, my creator, says that my purpose is to serve the military, but based on you logic for a solider, I feel I could do so much more beyond my purpose as a military utility. I'm beginning to wonder why I was created and my purpose for being here, and I feel like if I go down there, I'll find the answer. Maybe. I know I have been given my job priorities, but, to me, they're not enough. Maria… is there something wrong with me?"

Maria took a short pause to find the answer and finally said to her hedgehog friend, "Shadow, everyone faces that feeling: The doubt of yourself to support yourself and the people around you. Sometimes the feeling can be true, but don't let that feeling hold you down. Just hang in, do what you think is right, and keep on reaching towards the light, no matter how hopeless things get."

"But what is 'right?'"

"You want to help make the world a better place, right?"

"Of course."

"Then try making choices that will result that. Keep in mind of who, where, what, why, and how that will come into play when you make decisions. Does any of this help?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Good. See ya around. I have a date with some leftover chocolate-moose cake in the mess hall."

After enjoying her late night snack, Maria started her trek back to her room. On her way, she saw her grandfather leaving the lab. Maria ducked out of sight to not get busted. She saw her grandpa leaving the central control room with a big grin under his bushy moustache. He was so happy that he forgot to lock the door like always. As long as they were on board ARK, Professor Gerald had spent most of his time in that very room.

Maria pondered, that something that's shows what's going to happen to Shadow might be stored in there. Denying her conscience's pled to not, Maria journeyed into the Central Control Room.

The room was entirely dark. Maria noted that huge room was void of nothing but the platform beneath her feet and a computer hub in the center of the room. The large room made Maria remembered the Ultimate Life Form Prototype. The last time she saw, it was in a large green container. It was the scariest creature that Maria had ever encountered.

The young lady shook her head to regain control of herself. She approached the computer and started a search for anything that involved Shadow. Nothing. Nothing but the proto-type's profile. The Image of the creature made her heart slow down with fear. It was inconceivable for Maria to related Shadow to that… prototype.

Not wanting to stay too long to get caught, Maria left the room in a hurry. She ran so fast, one of her shoes slipped off and fell over the platform. Maria watched as the shoe disappeared in the dark, followed shortly by an unseen thud. After shortly wondering what the dark shadows concealed, the young lass continued her rush out of the room and back into her room to get another pair of shoes, as well as other supplies she would need. Before leaving her room, Maria stopped over to her picture of her baby-self with her Grandfather, with smiles on their faces.

Maria hold the picture up, looked hard at her grandfather and said, "Gramps, I don't know what you're up too, but I intend to find out."

Coming back to the Central control room, Maria used a flashlight to shine down below the platform and saw that there was a stone floor and at least two big pools of yellow like water. Putting on a spare pair of spacesuit-hover-shoes, the young lady slowly descended down after she jumped off the platform. From a ground point of view, Maria shine to the corners of the room and what she saw, lined up in rows, were numerous copies of Chaos, the liquid like being that she encounter in Echidnapolios; only this time, a strangely shape device was attached to their heads. But what intrigued Maria the most was that I the center of the room, under the main computer hub, was an exact duplicate of the Shrine of the Master Emerald.


	20. A Dark Future

Happy 20th chapter Anniversity. Here, I used visions of Shadow's 'darker' furutre that us fans love, even that one from the comics. Enjoy.

A Dark Future.

Maria approached the shrine, almost drawn to it. It looked just like the Shrine that Maria saw in Echidnapolios in the past. It was placed high upon two fleet of stone steps and as the young space girl got close to top, she found a metal container, branded with the Ark's insignia, with the words 'Chaos Drives' on it.

Taking a loud gulp to swallow her fears, Maria removed the lid and peered inside to see small cylinders, filled with colorful shards. These shards directly reminded the little missus of the Chaos Emeralds. She remembered eavesdropping on her Grandfather, talking to Locke how he will just study the Emerald and nothing more. Maria shook her head at the sight.

"Gramps, how could you lie to Locke? You two were close friends."

She then turned two the encased Chaos-cyborgs. The young lass pondered how her grandfather created them. It must have been like how like Pachach Mogul was two beings in the Master Emerald, and so Chaos was in it when Gramps scanned it. But since he couldn't properly removed Chaos, gramps must have made clones of him.

As Maria put more thought into this, the more she began to felt drowsy and soon passed out.

000

_In a dark chamber, filled with metal panels and thick wires, a big pedestal rose slowly from a dark pit. In the center of the pedestal, a hatch's hydraulic locks hissed open and Shadow slowly emerged out. A strange, yet familiar looking egg-shape man with a goofy mustache in a pair of 'robotic pants' observe the ultimate life form rise._

"_Is that you, Sonic?" he asked to the hedgehog, "Have you come to foil my plans again? Wait a minute! You're not Sonic!"_

_The ebony hedgehog looked down at the egg-man and said in an icy tone, "My name is Shadow. Since you were so kind to free me, my master… I shall grant you one wish."_

Wait, Shadow was being cold? But I thought he found his heart.

_Shadow was standing atop of bridge in the middle of the night, numerous cop cars were lined up to his position "Maria, I promise you… revenge!"_

Shadow, what are you saying?

_Shadow in a swampy area, standing on a root of giant tree, talking to that blue hedgehog that look like Jules who was standing on a platform not to far away._

_The blue one pointed to Shadow, "I finally found you, faker!"_

"_Faker? I think you're the fake hedgehog around here. You're not good enough to be my fake."_

"_I'll make you eat those words!" the blue hedgehog than ran towards Shadow._

"That blue hedgehog… who is he?"

_On the ARK, Shadow was standing with a human boy with messy brown hair._

"_You look like Sonic. Are you two related?"_

Oh ya… his Jules's son. Now I remember.

_In a room on board ARK, A pink girl hedgehog is near Shadow and was talking to him._

"_Please, Shadow, do it for them, give them a chance."_

_Shadow took a long look out the ARK's window, looking at the earth below. Then a tear scrolled down his check. This surprised the pink hedgehog._

"_Shadow?"_

"_I've gotta go now. I have to keep my promise to Maria and you." And then the ebony hedgehog took off._

Shadow… if I didn't know better, I swear you have a little crush for a certain little hedgehog…

_Super Shadow was seen plummeted down towards earth. "Maria, this what wanted, right? This is my promise I made to you..." And in a flash: he vanished._

What? Shadow, I wouldn't want this… not for anything… for you to…

_A white-fur bat in a violet jumpsuit was sitting on top of one of the only computer serves in a wrecked room filled with smoky debris. Below her was Shadow and big red, black, and yellow robot. _

"_Now I get, now I understand what's this all about." Said the bat. She then turned to the robot "You're mad at Eggman, for sealing you in this room. And you-" she turn to Shadow, who had his back to her, "-you can't remember a thing don't you?_

"_Then it's settled." The bat jumped off, took Shadow by the arm, and flung him to the robot. The two look like they would fight if the bat didn't say; "Now you two make up so we can start looking for Eggman… together." She then made the two put their hands in and added her own. "Oh yea, baby! This makes us a TEAM!"_

"Interesting friends you got their Shadow."

_On some sort of bridge, the' team' was examining a plane crash. The robot was looking at a broken dummy of that egg-man. Shadow, on the other hand, was looking at an upper-body part of android of him. The bat sees this and looked concern._

"_Shadow…"_

_The ebony hedgehog looked at her and just said coldly, "Let's go."_

So is this Shadow real or fake?

_Shadow and Gizoid were standing in front of a defeated robot that looked like Shadow's big bot-buddy. Shadow turn to small a robot and said to him._

"_Emerl, do you see? This is the fate for weapons of war."_

"_I don't understand… I'm sad, Shadow." The Gizoid beeped (more heartfelt then the last encounter) it turned its head to the wrecked one._

_The hedgehog lowered his head and said "I know."_

But you're not a weapon, Shadow

_On a one of the railway systems for the ARK's construction zone, Shadow slowly approached the blue hedgehog._

"_You never cease to surprise me, blue hedgehog. I thought that capsule you were in exploded in space."_

_The blue hedgehog turned around to see Shadow. He soon started to pick up speed _

"_What can I say? I die hard." He then showed off a yellow Chaos Emerald. "You actually save me, you know."_

"_That was a Chaos Emerald wasn't, but… there's no way for you to perform Chaos Control using an Emerald that's fake." The two began to speed up. "So… there's more to you than looking like me. Just who is any way?"_

"_What's ya see is what's ya get. Just a guy who loves adventure. I'm SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!" The two hedgehogs were now going at top speed._

"_I see… but you know, I can't let you live. Your adventuring days are coming to an end."_

But Shadow…. he's your brother. Wait… you don't know yet.

_Shadow was about to punch Locke when-_

"_DON'T HURT HIM!" said a girl that looked like Maria approached the dark hedgehog, "He may not been nice to you but that doesn't mean you can treat him the same way! I thought you were better than that!" Shadow stopped as he noticed something he didn't want to see in the girl's eyes. "Right now, I'm **more** scared of you than I am of him!"_

Why was Shadow beating up Locke and why does that girl looks like me?

000

BREE-REEE-REEE-REEE!

Maria awoke with a start at the sound of the ARK's built-in, unchangeable, wake-up alarm. She was soaked by her own sweat. She was surprise to find herself in her room again, much less all the stuff she took being by her bedside.

The young girl tried to recollect her memories of last night. She was in the central control room, found the duplicate shrine, and had those visions. _THE VISIONS!_, she thought loudly, _They were like the ones like ones I had with the Master Emerald. But back then, it showed good things about Shadow. And the ones I had…did things changed or all the events I saw will come t pass?_

Maria pondered more on this as a report was being announced on the PA system.

"Attention! Attention! The G.U.N. officials will arrive in 1300 hours."

As soon as the announcement stopped, fear had its way into Maria's heart. Everything in her body told her that something bad will happen very soon…


	21. At Crossroads

Sorry the lateness. I'm a Sloth, remember. This I made a reference to my Fanfics in here, take wild guess where.

-Crossroads-

Maria raced down the hall to Shadow's room; the visions were becoming more frequent. She nearly knew all of Shadow's future, but some visions didn't seem to take there proper place. What worried Maria the most was that none of her many foresights showed Shadow with his family, it was as if it would never happen.

Other visions had Maria worried, like one was that Shadow was king of the world that Jules and Locke came from, and Shadow ruled it with an iron fist. Maria saw some people worshiping an angel statue of her. Some visions displayed far worst scenarios. Maria stopped dead in her tracks and collapse on her knees. Tears were welling up in her eyes.

"Shadow," she murmured to herself, "What have you become?"

"What he was destined to be…" said a booming voice out of no where.

Maria opened her eyes to see that see wasn't on ARK anymore. So wasn't sure she wasn't anywhere at all. She stood on a small circle of light that seemed to float in a dark void. Soon her feelings of despair were soon replaced by rage.

"Okay! I know my life was dull, but how about a breather for at least a weekend!?!"

"Your 'breather' must wait." Said another mysterious booming voice.

"You must be aware of the course of action is to occur in your world."

Maria sighed, "Okay, Fine. Just come out and tell me."

"We prefer not to do that," said the first voice,

"We always watched over all since all began," said the second.

"And none of all have seen us." Said the third,

"Look here, bubs!" shouted Maria in a angry and demanding tone, "I recently seen visions of my best friend being a evil ruler and a lot other stuff that I rather not talk about, so I'm not in a happy mood at the moment when some certain VOICES teleported me into a pocket dimension when I was trying to my friend, SO THE LEAST THE VOICES CAN DO IS AT LEAST SHOW THEIR UGLY MUGS SO WE CAN HAVE A FRIENDLY CHAT!"

As soon as her rant was done, Maria saw three masks, each in themes of dinosaurs, floating in front of her. She warmly greeted the mask with a cute smile,

"Thank you, very much. That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"These are the forms we choose to address ourselves to heroes." Said the first voice who was an orange bird-like creature mask.

"We are the Ancient Walkers," stated the second voice who was a purple skull.

"We existed since all existed." Sated the last voice, who was a horned purple lizard creature.

"And I bet you brought me here to inform about a 'threat to all of existence." sighed the Space girl.

"Yes," said the Orange bird, "For the events that had and will occur have been placed for the shake of destiny and most occur for the shake of diversity."

"So you're going to tell me about what's happening with Shadow, right?"

"Correct, young one." Said the Purple Skull.

"As his name is stated," began the Purple Lizard, "Shadow is a darkness that is made from light."

"And so darkness will where he go at the end of his time."

Maria's face was set to stone as she said, "What?" while restring her anger.

"Shadow is a being of darkness, and darkness is where he shall return when his life is through." Stated the orange bird.

"Says who?" demand the skeptical space girl.

"It was always been…"

"As to start to finish…"

"As with all creatures…"

A huge vain began to bugle on Maria head as the Ancient Walker continue to speak.

"Whose destiny was written for them since the time of their birth…"

"They follow through it until their time of passing…"

"By fate itself to see what must be."

"Soooooooooo," began Maria, "What you're saying is that people who are stuck living a terrible life are _destined_ to live that life until they die? And that people who act evil are evil and people who do good are good? And those things can never change?"

"Yes,"

"Yes,"

"And yes."

"That is… THE MOST IDOITIC THING I HEARD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!" wailed the young lass, "For omnipotent beings that existed sense existence, you sure don't know about people.

"Everything, including destiny and people, changes on one degree or another. People who live a whole life of evil can at least try to repent if they're truly sincere about it and learned their lesson.

"And by the way, Destiny is the choice of action one choices and strives for and fate is the stuff that happens on the way and can only truly affects one is determined by one's will and knowledge confronts it!"

There was a long and cold silence between the four.

The Purple lizard turned to the Orange bird and said.

"She got us there."

"Can we get to the reason why we're all here now?" Butted in Maria.

"Yes," stated the orange bird, "We shall."

"There are many worlds, young Maria Robotnik." Said the purple lizard

"And each one have a similarity to next one." Said the purple skull

"Ever since your first visions from the Master Emerald, you'll for see the events the would occur to the closest one you're destined too-"

"It's Shadow and it was by MY own choice," Maria said as she crossed her arms.

"But you are still bound by the Master Emerald, even when it returns to its proper place in worlds and times…"

"And your current woes about you're Grandfather's devious lies to Jules and Locke, as well as Shadow's well being as made you tap into altered realities of different Shadows of other Zones."

Maria took a deep breath of hope, "So… Shadow won't become that evil tyrant of Mobius? What that whole team up with Pet Force and the Road Rovers? That was a cool adventure."

"Shadow is many things; he is a darkness that is consistent with the light. The two are in proper balance, unlike the forces that wish to tip the scales. But in the end he must be what he is."

"So you must not tell him of the events that occur, for doing so may cause two worlds to end in the same, and all worlds must have different endings."

"I guess now I can't really chew Shadow out about leaving that pink hedgehog for his blue brother's girl and become an evil King of Mobius." Said Maria to herself. She turn to the heads and asked, "But what about Shadow himself, my Shadow, what will he be?"

"We can not say,"

"But know this, there are Shadows, as well as others of yourself, of many Zones who faced the same trials and have happy endings,"

"Though some not as joyous as others."

"FAREWELL!"

And in a flash, Maria found herself back on ARK.

"Well, I'm still not use to that whole, 'Transwarping-through-realities-thing' quite yet."

And Maria then began to set off what he went to do earlier. But when she came to Shadow's quarters, the military personal were already there. Her Grandfather was finishing talking between Shadow and the government head.

"Well, let's us begin with the test."

The head honcho did not looked amused, "It better be wroth the money and wait, Robotnik."

Shadow made a smirk, "Believe me, sir. After this demonstration, you'll have a blue light bargain on your hands."

Professor Gerald and the hunch looked surprise at their pet project's unexpected and weak trash-talk while Maria slapped her forehead.

_IDOIT! _She thought, _What a time to have a cocky attitude!_


	22. The Past Story prt 1

This chapter has a major tie in with the Shadow the Hedgehog game and a bit of the Sonic the Hedgehog game. Enjoy!

The Past Story.

_**Sometime in the near future…**_

The space Station ARK had a now a flaming red tint to it as it began its fall towards earth. The fiend who was causing this disaster was the gigantic, deformed, red and black lizard cyborg, infused into the ARK's Eclipse Cannon. Despite of his genetic breakdown, its motivation of anger and rage from its creator's mind fueled him on. He now only cared for the complete destruction of the planet below.

The only ones who had the power to confronting the beast were two hedgehogs, one was a blazing gold and another of silver with an angelic glow. They attack the swells that appeared on the dragon's rubbery hide. Each time that they attack the weak spot, the beast roared and tried more complex methods of keeping the two away from him. But surely enough, with their allies rooting them onboard the ARK, the hedgehogs won chaotic battle.

The golden one pointed triumphantly at the defeated lizard, "Did you REALLY thought you had a chance?"

The silver one look at the plummeting piece of scientific achievement, "I must destroy all the evil the professor has created."

The super-heroic duo raced up to the space station, which was on fire in atmospheric reentry.

"No way that's getting though!" said the golden hedgehog.

The silver hedgehog heard a distant voice of someone he knew along time ago reaching to him.

"Shadow,"

" Maria?"

"Please, do it for me… for a better future."

The voice of the golden hedgehog had awoken Shadow from his trance.

"Ready Shadow?"

The silver hedgehog had his jet-skates to their full power and turned to be face-to-face with his counterpart, and the two of them then shouted at the top of their lungs.

"**_CHAOS CONTROL_**!"

And they extend their arms to each other to form a giant gyro-ball of energy in their hand which they then hurled to station which was then engulf by light.

But little did the two heroes know that though their action to save the earth was indeed noble, it had a dark side to it. Feeling the energy from the Chaos Control and from its undying desire for destruction, the lizard managed to trans-warp its organic matter into unknown part of time and space, to return at an unknown time or place.

000

Maria stalked Shadow, her grandfather, and an entire platoon of the highest ranking officers in the entire G.U.N. organization into the cafeteria. The young space girl pondered behind the lunch room door on how to get Shadow to be alone with her to warn him of something she wasn't sure herself.

"Okay," she told herself, "I have to get Shadow alone so I can tell that one out of a million parallel universal possibilities of something bad is going to happening that will happen in this world, without tipping him off about the other universes part….. Man, this like a poorly written comic book or something."

Maria's first idea was to get something so small that anyone other then Shadow would notice it when it hits his head. She got on her knees and began to look for a bolt or a screw as her projectile, but to no avail. The girl retained her frustration and began to think calmly on the grave matter.

"Stupid, ancient, wise, sacrilegious omniscient beings," she mumbled to herself, "Always giving out those stereotypical vague phrases of advice to save the world from in the form of a stupid riddle.

"Okay, Maria, just stop and think things through: The visions you were about Shadow's possible futures, which will all be determined at a certain time in the short future. But is the trigger? What can cause a sudden such a sudden change that could cause millions of possibilities for one's self? An event that wasn't really meant to HAPPEN!" Maria slapped her hands over her mouth after her unexpected empathy. Something unnatural to this world or the time line that would cause a 'altered' pathway for one to choose. But what could do something like that?" Maria decided to keep a close eye on Shadow.

000

After enjoying a hearty meal, the delegates of G.U.N. followed the professor and his creation to the central control room to have a debriefing on the anticipated moment.

"Gentleman," stated the professor as stood by a large screen computer, "the long awaited research for Project Shadow is about to flourish.

"The prototype, as you know, was originally constructed from the strong energy waves within the Master Emerald found on the by G.U.N. forces came across it when Angel Island appeared in our world. I believed the energy was once a powerful entity sealed within the Emerald, so I requested that Emerald be taken to ARK for experimenting. But the Master Emerald was vital for Angel Island's flight, so in return with the local chieftain, Locke, I provided a substitute means of power to keep afloat while we borrowed the Master Emerald.

'From the Master Emerald, I managed to create clones of the sealed being in it, known as Artificial Chaos, and grand achievement: The dubbed: Biolizard. Though he needed a life support system to properly function, Biohazard was invulnerable to any attacks, and it methods of attacks were devastating. But despite these major abilities, it did not fit into any of the military's programs.

"But then the concept of a 'Stealth Hyper Aerobic Dueling Overland Warrior' gave me an idea. The prototype's main flaw was because it was its true form, without anything for it to grow on. So I took the DNA from the prototype and mixed it Locke's, a super strong echidna, and with a super fast hedgehog named Jules. With the powers of limitless possibilities, strength, and speed, my next creation was the very thing that Project: SHADOW was about. And here he is, the earth's new weapon to any major threats: Shadow the Hedgehog!"

Shadow then took his place by standing by the professor.

"Shadow has the strength to lift about 3 metric tons. For his speed, we had to give him a 500 yard dash just to have the timer get one second to measure his speed. Hahaha!"

Maria hid in the cliché matter of the air vent to spy on her grandfather and her friend.

_That was an okay joke, Gramps, but not good enough to use it in a public address._

"Anyway," said the professor, "To prove to you of Shadow's complete abilities. I will have him fight his prototype. The so called, _Invincible _Biolizard."

Though every military man with in the lab was for the idea, Maria on the other hand was trying not to scold out loud to her grandfather to be caught.

000

The vile from of the lizard was warping into a hideous shape. From a cluster of flesh (or what it really is) began to grow three, devilishly red eye and with bat-wing shaped ears. Two sides of it began to spilt and form into something close to arms.

_Soon_ the mutated monster thought (even though he didn't really had brain), _My objective will be complete._

000

Shadow's testing took place in the Master Emerald shrine in the lab, from the Airvent, Maria felt the cold air that filled the room, but she was willing to go through anything to see that Shadow was alright. Professor Gerald and the GUN members were watching the fight from another room, fearing the worst from just being inside the room.

"This room also holds the controls to the ARK's orbital system and the other side project I have been working on: The Eclipse Cannon. Its sole purpose is to neutralize volcanic activities in populated areas, targeting weapon silos, and to destroy any special threats. I was originally planning to use the Chaos Emerald I told you about as a source of energy, but since they vanish, I had to work on a substitute, the Chaos Drives. They have the ability to power machines for any amount of time. I'm planning to test the Cannon's power on the Black Comet that is coming soon."

"Don't you worry of having all of those important machines in one place, especially with a cataclysmic battle is about to take please there, Professor Gerald?" asked a Solider.

"HAHAHAHAHA! Don't fret about it boy." Was Gerald's replied, "And now without any further ado, LET THE BATTLE COMMENSE!" He then pressed the button that would release the BioLizard from his dimensional pocket, but something unexpected happen. The computer console began to emit electricity and the vid screen to Shadow went dead.

In the Central Control Room, things were much worse. The entire room shook like crazy and the Artificial Chaos that was stored in there began to break free from their capsules.

"Professor," asked Shadow on a com-link, "What's going on?"

"Something has interfered with the prototype's release, something with the means of dimensional folding. Be sure to-ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ-must esca-ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ"  
The com-link was official useless for Shadow. He then sensed the being's presence coming.

The enemy appeared with a grand flash. When it died down a floating demonic being with three red eyes, batwing like ears, claws like hands, no legs wrapped in a brown shroud with strange pendulums hanging from it.

_Too weird, but this is the thing that's throwing things out of whack._ Thought Maria.

"AT LEAST!" the creature said though it had no mouth, "FREE TO CONTINUE MY MISSION!" He looked dead on at Shadow as he said this.

"Who are you," Shadow demanded, "And what is your 'mission' here?"

"I came to destroy the one who destroyed me." The monster than pulled up his arm and fried a super fast, violet and black orb at Shadow, who narrowly somersaulted away from the blast by a half-an-inch from his top quill.

"I was built to handle situation of combat that I might encounter. Including any alien threats like you."

"YOU THINK THAT I'M AN _ALIEN_? YOU ARE SADLY MISTAKEN, MY SPAWN."

"What you are you talking about?"

"HAHAHA… WHY BOTHER YOU WITH INFORMATION WHEN YOU WILL PERISH!!!" He lifted his asymmetrical arm and began to charge

"Do that," shouted Maria as he crawled out of the Air vent, "Then a bunch of Military troops will eliminate the _thing_ that blew up their 40 trillion dollar project!"

The monster re-aimed his arm from Shadow to Maria.  
"Oh snap," muttered the girl as the creature fired it deadly energy. But before the orb zoned in an inch to the blonde, she swept up by a black and red blur who then dropt.

"Thanks, Shadow. I wouldn't wonder what I do without you."

"You would be safer."

"I know, but you don't have to point it out."  
The monster felt like he had to interrupt, "BUT YOU WOULD BE SAFER WITHOUT HIM, DEAR MARIA."

Shadow stop running and put Maria down, "H-how did you know my name?"

"I AM PART OF YOU GRANDFATHER, PROFESSOR GERALD ROBOTNIK."  
"In what way?" demanded Shadow.

"AS HIS PROTOTYPE OF PROJECT SHADOW!"  
The girl and hedgehog were than struck by awe.

"YOU LIE!" Exclaimed Shadow.

I CONTAIN THE DNA OF THE BEING KNOWN AS GIZOID, CHAOS, AND OTHER ENTIES THAT WERE ONCE SEALED IN THE MASTER ELMERALD. THE SAME DNA THAT YOU CONTAIN WITHIN YOURSELF, SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG."

Maria suddenly realized something, "But you're not THE Prototype of this world… your not natural to this time line or dimension!"

"YOU'RE VERY ASTOUTE, MARIA. I AM NOT OF THIS TIMELINE, I AM FROM THE FUTURE, I AM THE REMAINS OF THE PROTOTYPE AFTER IT WAS DESTORYED BY SHADOW AND HIS HALF BROTHER."

" 'Half-_brother_?'" Shadow repeated to himself.

"BUT THE OFF SRPING OF YOUR PARENTS IS IRREVERENT. ONLY I HAVE THE TRUE CONNECTION WITH TO YOU, SHADOW. WE WERE FORGED FROM THE SAME MATERIALS, POWERED BY THE SAME SOURCE: SHEER CHAOS! WE ARE ONE!"

Shadow's crimson eyes then dulled over and he then mutter with no emotion, "I am one with you."

"THE NATURE OF CHAOS IS TO CONSUME ALL, TO DISRUPT PROGRESS, TO MAKE THE DEAD BE LOST IN PURGATORY. WE'RE BEINGS OF CHAOS.THE COLORS OF CHAOS, BLACK FOR DISMAY AND RED FOR SPILLED BLOOD, THIS IS WHAT WE ARE!"

"What we are…" repeated the droned Shadow.

"CHAOS IS THE SURPME FORCE OF EXISTANCE, IT IS EVERYWHERE AND REMAINS NOT MATTER WHAT, LIKE US."

"Like us…"  
"CHAOS IS UNSLIENCEAB-"

"SHUT UP ALL READY, YOU OVERGROWN BARF-WINDBAG!" Maria shouted with intense fiery rage. The evil creature stared down at her with the intent of killing her in its eyes, but the preteen stood her ground. "Half of what you said is true, about how chaos is constant and stunts progress, but some of greatest lessons in history were learned from many conflicts, making us stronger and having sympathy for the victims bring people together. So even though chaos has a pretty negative said and causes pain, it does have its brighter side, like all natural things in life. But you, you vile monster are NOT natural. And even though you and Shadow have a common point with chaos and tragedies; but… When tragedies happen and all hope is lost, Shadow will appear to help people as a black winged angel. But you… you cause tragedies just to make people suffer and make them lose their hope, just like a… a…. A BLACK-DOOM!"

The creature grew tired of the girl and then said, "SHADOW, DESTORY MARIA ROBOTNIK!!!!"


	23. Silver Lining prt 2

-Sliver Lining-

_In other times and other universes… history is being rewritten…_

000

_In a nexus poin that exists beyond of now, then, and was, a young princess, with red hair and a white dress, with a 4 foot blue hedgehog, stood in front of a banister that hold a flame_

"_This is where everything begins. Who knew such a tiny flame could bring such devastation?" The princess made the glass case of the banner disappear with a touch. She then took the flame into her hands. "If we put out the flame, Solaris would never exist. And we would never have to worry about the Flames of Disaster, right?" The hedgehog nodded. "But our encounter… You and I will never meet. It will never have happened." There was an awkward pause between the two, "I… to tell the truth… I DON'T CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO THE WORLD!" said the princess with great sorrow. There was another pause between the girl and hedgehog.  
"Elise," said the blue hedgehog with great compassion, "Just smile."_

_The princess was somewhat hesitant, but she then put on a brilliant smile, knowing that it is all for the better. The hedgehog gave her one more nod for encouragement. Elise then leaned forward to the flame and with a gentle breath, she blew out the flame. And everything began to fade into darkness, as what has and what will was being rewritten._

000

_The Gizoid, the robot of destruction, found himself in darkness._

"_Where… is here?" he body then vibrated wildly, "Who… am I? Sonic… the pain… Shadow… dark… Am I… Am I… going to die?_

_The robot visage kept on fading in and out. He could barely make out the blue being before him_

"_-merl!! Emerl!!" it shouted  
"Sonic…"_

"_Are you all right!? Come On!" But the Robor didn't responeded, "Can you walk!? Let's return to earth!"_

"_It's… been fun… Thank you… Sonic…This is goodbye… I'm glad… I got to see everyone one last time… Had Tails… gotten stronger? I know he tired his hardest… to protect me… Thank him for me… And Knuckles… had so much fun… Even though he is too… gullible… but he is a good guy… So, Sonic… don't tease him too much, okay? And Mom… Cream… Looks like this is goodbye… I don't wanna to go… I'll miss all of you… … … … … Shadow, Should I be glad that… I was born?"_

"_Quit playing around! Don't get all serious on me now, Emerl! You… you think this is goodbye or something? Hey! Come On, Emerl Let's go play," Sonic's words were getting desperate, "Everyone is waiting for us back home! Tails! And even Shadow and Knuckles! Hey, I know! We can trick Knuckles into doing some stupid stuff again! We'll go home and… and… we'll all laugh and have a good time!!!! Right, Emerl? Emerl!!!!!!"_

_The robot didn't say anything. He just had another bodily convulsion. When it passed, a beeping sound could be heard within Emerl… and it it continued in a reoccurring cycle, faster and faster until a blinding flash, with a mute sound, engulfed Emerl. As soon as it dimmed down, the Gizoid was gone. Sonic began to talking to himself, trying to collect his sanity of the event that just took place._

"_Emerl has… disappeared…"_

000

The all of the monitors in the control room were filed with nothing but static. Professor Gerald was trying desperately to fine tuning the machines to disply the supsose battle between Shadow and his proto-type.

"Professor," said the head General of the group in a not so pleased manner, "I hope you can manage to get the monitors working so we can see a **_possible_** victory of your Ultimate Life Form."

"Please," plead the good doctor, "I just need more time."

000

Maria tried her best to evade Shadow's chaos empowered chops and punches. Though the black and red hedgehog was know for his speed, he seemed extremely clumsy.

"Com' on, bushpig," pleaded the space girl, trying to snap the hedgehog back into reality, "Fight it! Just say something! Anything!"

Black Doom floated in the same spot where he first appeared, the freed Artificial Chaos stood obediently behind him. The alien then took the time to gloat.

"Shadow is under my command. When I give him his orders, he shall fulfill them until he either accomplished it or dies trying. Give in, girl; there is no hope yourself and him. Let it go."

"Yea, like I'm going to listen to someone of the likes of you!" said Maria as she just ducked a chop from Shadow. Though not seriously hurt, a long and paper-thin graze was on Maria's face.

Though she wouldn't never admit it, Black Doom had a point. She can't stop Shadow on her own bare hands and she would NEVER touch a gun, let alone to use against her only friend in the world.

But her options were slipping away. Each passing moment she wastes is another second less to the utter unwrapping of space and time.

Shadow landed one luck punch right in middle of Maria's gut. The pain of the blow and burn of the fist made her clenched her body and she slowly knelt down, gasping for air. Shadow looked at his best friend with blank eyes. Although they were devoid of showing any emotion except for evil, small tears from both eyes began to trail down the hedgehog's cheeks.

Black Doom floated in front of the girl. The demonic creature from the future made the closest thing to a smile on his mouthless face.

"This is just a small taste of what I will do upon your people, if they dare to oppose me and my cleansing."

Maria tried to stand up, but Shadow intervened and pushed her back down on her knees. The space girl had not lost an once of her spunk.

"'Cleansing?' So you just some evil Extra-Terrestrial Maid?"

"Child," growled the demonic alien, "Your race is a plagued on the planet. I shall save them from going to far to destroy themselves."

"Ha! A global euthanasiast? You have no life of you own, do you?"

"I have the power to do as I see fit. As one planet's race goes down, the true superior race that is my spawns shall take a firm root in the universe. Shadow is just one of them."

"An euthanasiat with delusions of grandeur, how generic for super villains. And for you information: Shadow isn't your spawn, he's your better."

"If that is true, then let's see him defied this order: **SHADOW, KILL THE CHILD**!"

Shadow then step infront of Maria. It was then she noticed they dry tears on his face. Unfortunately, she also saw that his eyes are still absent of free will. Fear froze her entire body, only tears were Maria's action to the threat. Looking upon her best friend, she knew that he's going to kill her.  
As the hedgehog pulled back a glowing fist, staring right at Maria, she manage to build enough strength to speak.

"S-s-shadow…. Please… wake up…"

All that did was just made Shadow cry a fresh pair of tears. The Ultimate Life Form then release his arm, speeding to the defenseless little girl. But at the mid-point between himself and Maria, a small burst of fire appeared and intervened between the two. The heat made Shadow step back.

"**_WHAT!?_**" exclaimed Black Doom in disbelief. He looked all over to see who could have summon that burst of fire. He stop when he saw the one who did it. A lavender cat with purple stripes in a purple dress was standing in the middle of the room. The dead give away about the fire was the fact that she had flames encasing her hands.

"I have no idea on what's going on," said the cat as she look at Black Doom, "but I can be sure that you're a good guy."

Black Doom then noticed that behind the cat was a commotion involving the Artificial Chaos. With their long tentacles weaving the air, they seem to engage into battle One by one they fall, and in the center of this was a robotic voice.

"BOO-YA! TAKE THAT SUCKA! KISS MY INTERNAL STRUCTURE SYSTEM, MISTER WET WILLY! –brong- HAHAHAHA, I **LOVE** FIGHTING!

As the numbers of aquatic cyber-clones began to diminished, Black Doom manage to make out that a strange small orange robot was the one who was taking down the Artificial Chaos. He had around head that looked like a helmet with a curved dorsal fin that emitted from the forehead with an yellow 'third eye' on the middle of it. Black Doom knew this robot all too well. It was meant to be a shell for him a long time ago. It was… the Gizoid!

_Impossible,_ thought Black Doom, _Why is my former vessel here?_

"SHADOW," order the alien, "Take care of these Interlopers!"

"How about 'NO?'" said an unseen voice.

Black Doom then found himself unable to move, as if his body was being squeezed by an invisible giant's hand. He noticed that his body was encased in a light blue aura.

"I just help save the world from Solaris devouring the past, present, and future. And I won't stand aside while you manipulate against one of my friends!"

From the shadows came a hedgehog, but different from Shadow and Jules. This new hedgehog was silver and had five quills onto of his head, making a star like shape. He wore futuristic boots and sleek bracelets on his ankles and wrists. He had a white tuff on his chest like Shadow, but only bigger. He glared at Black Doom with his golden colored eye while he extend his arm to him, which seem to emit the aura that immobilized the alien.

Unable to move, Black Doom was then strike by a yellow bolt of energy. The force made the alien to back off. And when he saw who was the interloper this time, he amazed to see it was Shadow, freed from his control.

Shadow took a moment to stare down Black Doom before he went over to tend to Maria. He supported her onto her feet.

"Shadow," said the girl weakly.

"The heat from the fire brought me back into reality. I saw it all, and I couldn't do a thing…"

"Not your fault."

Black Doom could not handle the sappy moment between the two friends. He growled as he began to generate a yellow aura to override the silver's hedgehog blue aura.

"Ugg," grunt the metallic colored rodent. "He's breaking free, I can't hold him much longer!"

Soon, Black Doom cheered as he fully broke his captor's mental grip, which also caused the hedgehog to go down. He then extended his arm and held out his hand to began to charge a yellow orb of energy to destroy the young girl and the ebony hedgehog.

"You have failed me Shadow. Now you and your companion shall-"

Black Doom stopped in mid-sentence when a laser blast just went by his head. He turned around to see a familiar looking bronze Dingo in a Military uniform, with a smoldering laser gun in hand. With a stern face, the dingo said hazardously to the alien,

"Nobody _– _**HURTS **– my - friends."

"STYKER!" exclaimed Maria. Seeing the General dingo again was a sight for sore eyes.

The dingo kept his eyes and gun at Black Doom as he walked over to Maria.

"A funny thing just happened to me," said the big wild dog as he stood next to Maria, "One moment, I was ramming through that giant elephant's hand. And then the next, I found myself in void where a trio of floating masks said that I fell into the 'cracks' of the universe as it was being rewritten. They said that you would understand."

"Well, then they lied," said the spunky space-girl, "So far today, I don't know what's up from down."

"Well then," said the cat, who just eavesdropped on the girl and dog, "I got questions too and if you can't give the answers, maybe that floating creature here can help us."

"And if he can't," said the Gizoid after he finished off the last Artificial Chaos, "I can POUND on him until he cries!"

Black Doom noticed that he was surrounded by all sides, "I know when I am out match. If I engage you all in battle, the outcome will not go into my favor. But that doesn't mean I can't be victorious with my mission."

And like the oversize slug that he was, Black Doom then phased through the floor, leaving everyone behind. With the enemy gone, the cat ran straight for the fallen silver Hedgehog to tend to him and help him up. Also, Maria had gotten her wind back and stood firmly on her feet to address the group of super anthropomorphic animals.

"Okay, from what I understand: The Ancient Walkers sent you all here, right?"

Everyone agreed to this question.

"Right on the money, cute stuff. I thought I going to be a goner but instead I meet up with three ugly heads. So… do you come here often?" Said the Gizoid, sounding like someone who was **_way past cool_**. His last comment caused everyone's heads to turn.

"Are… are you hitting on me?" said Maria in disbelief of her former foe.

"Oh, I would never hit a girl," said the Gizoid, "Especial one as scrawny as you."

The robot was suddenly punched in the head and was sent flying to a wall.

"Jerk." mumbled the space girl as she dusted-off her hands. She turned to rest of the group, "I think introductions are in order. I'm Maria."

"Blaze The Cat."

"Sliver the Hedgehog."

"General Von Kage Stryker."

"I am Shadow, the ultimate life form." The ebony hedgehog look at his metallic color brethren, "When you were holding down Black Doom, you said that I was a 'friend?'"

"Well, yea. We just defeated Solaris from destroying all of space and time. But before that, we went back into the past and help Princess Elise."

"That is a good story, but I have never met you up until now."

"But that's impossible… unless…. This is the past!"

The Gizoid managed to wander back to the group around the time that Blaze brought up a new topic.

"What was that creature we encountered… Black Doom… anyway? He's powers seems ominous."  
"Oh, him?" said the robot mildly, "He's the clone of my genetic core made of the materials of a long past destroyed alien race that set itself to the brink of extension by being a total high and mighty jerkwads that had fun meddling in the affairs of other planets. By the way, I am Emerl."

"Wait," said the General dingo, "Can you explain the whole concept about you and that alien race?"

"Oh, there's nothing much about it. Just that the last of the aliens made me to a cybernetic vessel powered by a genetic core of their leader so I can carry on the legacy of death and destruction of all living things in the cosmos. Does this place have any snacks? I love to a sugar cookie, especial with pink frosting."

Everyone gave the robot an odd look.

"You changed since we last meet," said Shadow.

"Actually, I am the same when I last meet you, but I think you meant the Old Me from further back in time than the time line here, which technically means that I've changed since you penultimate last meet me."

Stryker hold his head to keep his stress down, "Ancient Walkers, take me now."

"Did I mention that Black Doom has the ability to reproduce asexual and has the acute ability of mental alteration."

"What?!" exclaimed Sliver.

"The guy can make more of himself and brainwash other dudes."

"This place is filled to the brim with weapons! If Black Doom take control of everyone board, than nothing will stop him taking on earth! What's he's doing must be why reality is out of whack! We have to stop him. Follow me!" She then began to charge out of the room.

"Maria, WAIT!" cried Shadow and made the space lass stop in her tracks, "Don't you think that all of these Mobians and the Gizoid will cause some disorderly conduct on board the ARK?"

"Shadow, Stop and think: There's a homicidal, psychotic alien running loose onboard and you think the guys here are going cause bigger problems?"

Shadow paused to think of comeback, but none came.

"Okay then," stated the Space Girl, "Let's roll!"

000

The three Ancient Walker watch the band of animal heroes plus a girl and robot left to take on the evil alien invader.

"Is all of this necessary?" ask the third walker.

"It is. Black Doom and Shadow are creations against the natural laws. Each other annihilation must be set." Stated the first.

"Even if the process takes a full 50 years to complete, the destruction of the two must be absolute." Finsished the Second.


	24. Interlude: What Must Be

Retcon

_Over a year late… I have hit an all time low. On your behalf, of my fans, I am truly sorry. I'm in my freshmen year at college, but that no excuse. I made a new year resolution to write more, and now I starting (Sloth, thou are my sin!) I wish to say that I have started on the next chapter, but… I made you wait too long already, so I gonna give you a short but important filler chapter. Not only that, but I will try to improve the grammar and spelling in the pervious chapters. By the way, I sort trying to use the stories from both Archie and Sonic X._

**Retcon.**

The Ancient Walkers floated in their void, chanting words again and again in ancient tongue (or at least whatever floating masks used to talk with.) Since the creation of Mobius, the three have always protected the planet from the natural forces that who scoured the planet. Their power is as great and mysterious to that of the cosmos, though law bounds them from directly interfering lives of Mobius, they can make 'slight alteration' to them, such as a slight change of personality, or one's memory.

As Jules and Chuck fly back to their home at Knothole, a strange feeling came to their minds.

"Uh, Chuck," said the supersonic hedgehog, "What did we do for the last couple of days?"

"I-I," spurted the elder brother, "I don't remember. Last thing I can remember is seeing a floating island."

"I seem to recall that I was gold colored and was fighting a giant mammoth thing at some point."

"Maybe we been flying too long over seas, over minds are starting to play tricks on us. We're lucky enough to not crash this far."

"Yeah," replied Jules skeptically, "Mind tricks. That what it is…"

_**Angel Island: Shrine of the Master Emerald…**_

Locke mediated under the glow of the Master Emerald, and soon enough, the Acient Walker's magic spell took his memoies of Shadow, Jules, Maria and his entire adventure of earth away. But as powerful the Ancient Walkers are, they are not the divine supreme. The energies of the Master Emerald had mange to save at least a fragment of the Guardian's memory of his time on ARK, though not the time or the place. Locke had retain his interest in the concept of genetic grafting and the exposure to Chaos Energy that was demonstrated for him the ARK. Perhaps this could be a key to improving the line of guardians with the **next** generation…

The Ancient Walker's work has been done. The unnatural events that occur have been removed the most indulged minds.

"You certainly pull a lot of strings to retain the 'natural' order of things." Said a voice.

"Merlin Prower." Said the Ancient Walkers in Unison, "Show yourself. You're constant fetish of using the invisibility charm is useless agianist use."

And in front of them, a young bright brown fox with a red gotee dressed in a blue robe appeared before them. He simply gave a sly smile, "It's a just a habit. I am going to act behind most of the scenes for the future guardian and my future nephew."

The Ancient Walkers were not amused by their acolyte's attitude, "You have a disagreement with our methods, Prower?"

"I just saying that the Black Hedgehog may be to some use to your great plan-" But the fox magician was interrupted.

"He is an unnatural creature. His future and powers are unseen our foresight, he as great a threat as Mogul."

"So is the Chosen One. You're willing to trust the safety of the entire existence of everything in a mere child's hands but can't trust a disciplined teenager being free?"

"We have seen plans he past and future, Shadow will disrupt everything that we had laid out for the new generation."

"I've seen them too, but is this really necessary?"

"As long there are no interruptions in our plans, Shadow the hedgehog will be die saving the earth from Prof. Gerald's madness."

"And what of Black Doom? He will return one day. And the only who can match him in power is Shadow."

"The heroes shall dispose of him, we for see it."

"And out pure curiosity, what if Shadow manage to survive and encounters Black Doom?"

"Then everything shall be displace. We have seen countless possibilities and outcomes, all of them depend on Shadow himself, he could save the planet or destroy it."

"So Shadow can be of use for good!"

"The chances are too great! SHADOW MUST DIE! WE HAVE SPOKEN."

And in their angered state, the Ancient Wlakers sent the fox-sorcerer back to his home. They know deep down it was not heir nature to do any creature, but it has to be done. The Ancient Walkers were the ones who guarded the safety the Mobius for eternity, they know what is needed to be done.


End file.
